Our Bumpy Journey
by kawaiisasusaku
Summary: It's been sometime since Sasuke's return to Konoha. He has a new goal in mind and needs Sakura for it...will she accept? What happens next? Is the future of the Uchiha clan involved somewhere? Sasusaku
1. Prologue

**So this is my new multi-chaptered fanifc! The storyline is extremely common and simple but my favourite type, nevertheless.**

**This fic takes place a few months after Sasuke returns from the sound. They are about 19-20 years old.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

It was a peaceful spring night. The breeze was blowing, the trees were swaying, and the sky was dark and lit up only by the lone full moon and shining stars. The night was quiet but this didn't apply to Sakura's house.

Team 7 was having a little get-to-together at her house. Sai, Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke were present. Yamato apparently couldn't make it.

Everyone had just finished eating the delicious cooked dinner prepared by the only female member of their team- Sakura.

She had really grown a lot since when she was a genin. Her soft and silky pink tresses grew up to her middle-back, she was of average height in comparison to other women, her emerald eyes still sparkled and showed innocence and her face always adorned a radiant smile. She was quite slim with curves at all the correct places and had definetly grown stronger- physically and mentally. Overall, she was pretty in the sweet way.

She had changed but still had some of her old traits left in her. She was still a little childish in the cute way, obstinate and still was in love with Sasuke. She really hated it. She didn't want to be in the same mess she was in so many years ago. She considered this her biggest flaw- not being able to move on completely.

"That was great Sakura-chan. Thanks! Next time, some ramen would be even better!" Said the next hokage- Naruto. He was as blonde and loud as ever!

"Ok, that's enough Naruto and thanks for the dinner, Sakura." The silver-haired jounin, Kakshi said with a masked-smile, "We should probably be heading out. Let's go."

"Yeah, bye everyone." Naruto shouted while waving his hand.

"I better leave too…bye ugly." Said the pale, emotionless man- Sai.

"Bye everyone, come again!" Sakura said with a cheery smile while waving to everyone. Now it's time to rest. She closed the door behind her and walked past her couch to go towards her bedroom.

That's when she noticed that her other raven-haired teammate hadn't left yet. His eyes were currently averted at her. He was giving her a questioning look as if she were stupid or something.

Sakura suddenly did feel extremely stupid and awkward. Dammit. The day was going fine until she forgot that all her guests hadn't left yet.

"Sakura?"

She heard his deep, velvety voice and knew exactly what he was going to say. She sighed and turned around to look at him and hopefully be able to give him a good excuse.

"Actually…" She started, "I was just going to use the bathroom…I didn't think you would mind. It's ok if you want to stay here longer…I, uh, totally didn't forget about you or anything, of course…" Way to go Sakura. Now he'll never guess. She just went on rambling.

"Sakura, stop." He said firmly.

Sakura instantly stopped talking when she heard him call out her name.

"Right."

"I…wanted to talk to you..."

"Oh, ok. Well, we all are going to meet at the training grounds tomorrow, so we can talk then..."

"Alone"

Now she was curious. Why wouldn't she be? Sasuke, who barely talks to her for any general reason other than training or matters concerned with her healing him, wanted to talk to her. That too, alone.

"…go ahead then. I'm listening."

She sank down on her couch beside him. She slowly raised her eyes to face him. He was looking intently into hers.

"Do you remember what you told me when I was leaving for sound that night?"

She was slightly taken aback. She definetly did not want to talk about _that_ night. And that too, certainly not to him.

"I…I…. But why do you ask?" She asked while shaking a bit out of nervousness.

"Hn. Do you feel the same way now?" He said, not once taking his eyes off of hers.

She did not expect this. More than that, she didn't know what to reply. Sure she did perhaps feel the same way, but it had faded a little since he left for so long.

"………"

"….Ok, then do you atleasr know my future goals?" He finally said. This time, a little hesitant on his part since he did not get a reply from the girl.

Sakura finally got some of her senses back and processed the question slowly in her mind. She still didn't know why he was suddenly quizzing her about all of this.

"Yes, of course. To avenge your clan by killing your brother. That one has already been completed as far as I know…"

"Hn. And what about the other big goal?" He said. Now he was starting to get annoyed and impatient with her. But he knew, at times like this, he just had to be patient. There was no second path in situations like this.

"Uh…to resurrect your clan?" She didn't know why she was so unsure of all her answers now. She very well knew both his goals but I guess, she was just really freaked out about this all too weird conversation she was currently enagaged in.

"Stop acting so oblivious Sakura."He said, clearly impatient.

"Fine, then just get to the point!" She said loudly with a hint of iciness in her voice too.

"Ok. Now just listen to me." He said. He was looking straight into her eyes and spoke in a very serious tone. She knew something big was coming her way, but the worst part is, she didn't know what.

"I have my own motives for coming back to Konoha and one of them is to find a worthy kunoichi to resurrect my clan." Sakura was shocked to the core but she knew she had no reason to be. She knew the day would come when he would say this and she would perhaps help him find that one, special girl for him, to do the job.

But despite that, she couldn't help but widen her eyes. Sasuke inhaled in lightly before he spoke. "You happen to be my current option." He said coolly.

She wasn't sure if she had just heard right…what was he exactly asking her to do? No. It can't be…was he actually, indirectly…proposing to her?

There was a brief moment of silence. He knew she knew what he was talking about . And he also knew that she needed time to think. And he would give her that. Rushing was never a good thing. At this point, definetly not for him, for her and perhaps, for the future of the yet-to-be Uchiha clan.

"I think you understand what I mean. Give me your answer by tomorrow." He muttered. He slowly stood up and left the pinkette alone to her thoughts.

She knew what he meant. She got her answer. He was proposing to her. She was clueless as to what she should do. She didn't know whether she was thrilled, happy, over-whelmed, upset or simply dreaming. She knew she still possessed feelings for him but didn't know whether she was ready, or even willing to do what he wanted. She knew it would be a very tough life and would never have her feelings returned.

But on the other hand, she had just got the opportunity to spend the rest of her life with the person she's always been in love with. For whom she had yearned for, for years. For whom Naruto and her had tried their level best to bring back home.

Sasuke. He was all this to her.

She suddenly started to feel as if there was no air left on earth and that the whole world was spinning round her head. She felt as if the burning sun had taken over her heart. Not to mention, it was beating a 100 times faster than it normally should. She was scared that her heart might just jump out of her chest.

She got up dazedly, and made her way towards her bedroom and quickly tucked herself into bed. She looked out of the window for a bit but could only see the lonely moon and felt she was just like it right now; It was going to lose it's importance as soon as morning arrives.

She took in a deep breath and closed her eyes to sleep. A single, warm tear rolled down her cheek.

Tomorrow, she would have to make the most difficult decision of her life.

* * *

**How was it? What is her decision going to be? Please review if anyone wants me to continue! I promise to update very fast…**

**This was basically just to introduce the characters and the basic plot.**

**Read & review.**


	2. Decision

**So this is the next chapter! I'm glad that at least SOME people read my story. Thank you!**

**Hopefully, this chapter won't suck as much as my prologue did (I know it was rushed and I regret it)…xD**

**Disclaimer: Naruto definitely does not belong to me, sadly.**

It was another bright morning in Konoha. The sun had been up for a while now, emitting off its silver light and letting the land below it beam up to it. There was not a cloud in the sky.

The warm sunlight peeked in through the Uchiha mansion's master bedroom. Uchiha Sasuke was dozing peacefully on his soft bed. He stirred slightly due to the disturbance of the unwanted light. He tried to block out the sunlight with his hands and stretched in bed. He rubbed his eyes lazily and looked at the clock kept at the night-stand. It was about 8 O'clock.

He groaned a bit and remembered that he had to get up and go for training. He forcefully got out of his comfortable bed and went into the bathroom. He looked at the bathroom mirror and just stared blankly at it for a few minutes, clearly out of sleepiness.

He suddenly started to feel as if today was supposed to be quite an important day. Then it struck him: Sakura was to give her decision today. It wasn't that he would be heart-broken or anything if she rejected, but it would certainly be annoying.

Sasuke just needed a woman to help him resurrect his clan. He just wanted a worthy kunoichi who could help in adding to the superior power of the Sharingan by the use of her own powerful trait. Someone who was decent looking, easy to handle, satisfy and maintain and care for their future children. Someone whom he knows a little about at least and it would always help if she was good with her housework, especially cooking and cleaning, not unbearably loud or annoying.

Sakura was just all of that; so he thought.

He has known her since they were only mere genins. She has proven her worth by being one of the best medic-nins Konoha has ever seen. She is definitely strong and possesses super-human strength, which could prove good for the clan. She was one of the only female kunoichi he has known personally, being all anti-social and all just gives him that.

He got along fine with her though they don't really talk much. You could call them more than acquaintances and maybe even go as far as friends, seeing, as a team they have got so far. He always knew she was caring and kind and had heard from others that she was warm and loving too. Well, he has never experienced it since he doesn't allow her to be 'loving' and 'warm' with him. He believed in distance and conversing only when necessary.

He agreed that she was decent looking and will not push further than that, though, yeah, he _might_ have thought she was pretty sometime or the other…

And the final reason why he picked Sakura was because he remembers that she had confessed her love for him way long back. He had a hunch that she still held onto some of those feelings.

It was that very fact about her that made him have the ball on his court. But if she by chance did reject, then no matter- he would have to go through the thing he had doomed--

Dating.

Why he doomed it was because he just didn't want to go out on dates and spend his precious time on some girl who might prove to be completely useless and insane. Meeting girls would mean that he would have to get to know them by interviewing and conversing with them. Being the man of little words, that thought is downright repulsive.

Having just remembered about training and confronting Sakura, Sasuke quickly freshened up, simply skipped breakfast, which he knew he would come back, and do, and went out the door and headed for the usual training grounds.

* * *

On the other hand, the pinkette was sitting on her bed. She was hugging her knees to her chest with the help of her slender hands. She was in deep thought. She remembered every little detail of her conversation between her and Sasuke the other night, though it wasn't much.

But even with the very few words they had spoken last night, they kept her shaking till now even. She had not yet made up her mind about what she was going to do. She knew she wouldn't really be able to face him now. She urged and yearned to just say 'yes' but her brain was telling her just the contrary. Right now, she was having a bad case of conflicting emotions.

She couldn't think straight. A life with Sasuke Uchiha would mean heavy responsibility of the clan and more than likely, she would have to bear with his cold shoulder towards her. She could also very well imagine seeing his scowling face, blank pools of obsidian and emotionless or raged façade 24x7. Basically- no sign of warmth.

But at the other side of the darkness, she saw some light. Perhaps, as time ticks, he may change or need to change. She knew that Sasuke would obviously not be harsh with any of his children, if he has any in the future. She knew he was capable of being loving and is quite sure that he was before his clan's massacre.

After all, winter always does melt away and turn into spring. So why should humans or more like Sasuke, be any different? If not fully open up, then at least become caring. She decided that she, herself, personally, will attend to that matter, whether she accepts or rejects his offer today, and make him more caring at the most.

And that was final. No buts. Once Sakura makes up her mind, she's at it. No turning back.

Being a little satisfied with her thoughts, she knew what she was going to tell him. She just didn't know how to go about it though. 'I'm sure I'll just figure that out on the spot.' She pondered. 'I'll just wait for the right time to speak.'

Yet, her nerves where still shaking, not fully gotten over her previous night's shock. She slowly got off her bed. She had already gotten ready so she just made her way to the front door and left her house to go and meet her team.

She really wanted to take her little frustration out so she thought that training would serve that need. It would do her some good.

* * *

Team 7 had just finished their morning training and it was almost lunch-time. Nothing had changed for the most part; Kakashi was still late as usual, Naruto still was loud and ready to have an argument with Sasuke, Sai was still Sai, pale as usual, scribbling something in his notebook. They all had a normal training session and about now Naruto should be talking about going to Ichiraku to get his hands on the miso pork ramen.

The only thing unusual was that Sakura was trying to avoid Sasuke, which is a given as to why, isn't it? He also wasn't paying any particular attention to her.

Training had officially ended for the morning and everyone was just leaving to go for lunch to Naruto's favourite food joint. Sakura was also following behind the other three guys when suddenly, she was grabbed by her wrist and pulled towards the bridge.

"What the –oh, Sasuke?"

"Hn. Your decision." He stated very clearly with not a single sign of hesitation or worry. He was just acting as if proposing wasn't really a big deal.

Sakura obviously wasn't taken aback by the sudden remark. She knew it was to come soon. Just not this soon. "Yeah, I…just have some very simple questions to ask you just so there's no confusion."

"………"

"Ok then. See, I just wanted you to know that this is a really big decision, one of the biggest of my short life so it's better to be safe than sorry, right? So don't mind the stupid but vital questions…" She went on. Honestly she didn't know what she exactly wanted to ask him. She was getting all hyped up.

"Just hurry up and go on." He said. He really didn't care much for explanations. He just wanted to hear her answer quickly and get over this phase. How hard was it? Either you marry him or you don't. That's how Sasuke felt. No big deal for him.

She took a deep breath and spoke. "I wanted to know whether I can still keep my job if we do get though this."

"Yes, as long as you do all the work at home too." He finished. He personally knew how it was like to be deprived of your job. When he had returned from sound, he was put on house arrest for 2 months and as a result, he wasn't allowed to go on missions too, and that too for 4 months. For the extra 2 months, he was only allowed to do D and C rank missions. It was really depressing.

She brightened up instantly. Her job, that is, being a medic, was everything to her. If he was to refuse, she would not even consider his offer. That was basically it. She suddenly didn't know if there were any other questions that she wanted to ask him, for some reason.

Maybe that was due to her mind that was currently blank. All she could hear was the deep throbbing of her fist-sized heart and all she could feel was her hollow stomach. She often feels like this when she talks or even looks at him. This was the feeling that had come out in the open after so many years of trapping it in, within her. Love. One word to describe it all.

"Yes." She automatically said out of nowhere. She honestly didn't know where it came from but she knew that she would have someday or the other come to this conclusion. It was good that she said it now; otherwise she perhaps would have regretted it later.

"I..I-think I will marry you". She smiled slightly, relief washing over her form. She liked the feeling of the burden off her shoulders. She had made her final decision.

Sasuke nodded. A serious expression adorned his handsome face. "Hn. Now listen to me carefully. I want you to think it over again…"

"Don't worry. I've thought it over. I'm sure-"she interrupted.

"I'm not done." He said, a little annoyed as usual with the said girl. "Let me warn you. I know you and how you want your 'dream wedding' like every girl and all. But let me remind you, I am marrying you solely for my own personal ambition. Not for any other purpose. You need to forget about care, love etc. You know I cannot give you any of those comforts."

Sakura shattered at his words. It stung her and she felt her knees weaken and her eyes well up with tears, daring to fall. She was trembling. She knew it all but somehow it hurt her even more, hearing it from his mouth. She simply looked down and sighed ever so quietly, clearly feeling the rising tension in her.

"Do you understand?" He continued in his usual monotone voice with still a hint of seriousness. "You are simply to take care of the house, our future children and are allowed to go daily for work. That's the end of it. You are to cook dinner and lunch and all- this is what will consist of your regular day. Do you think that you're up to it? I am not going to cheer you up when you cry or give you warmth when you're lonely. Get that straight. So, I give you time to think"

Every single word hit her. A single tear hit a wooden plank of the bridge. Emotionally, she was hurt all over and the pain just wouldn't go away. But she quickly shook it all away. She lifted her head. She was going to be strong and she had taken it upon her to bring his happiness back. There was no turning back since she's come this far already, right?

"I agree. I am fine with every single point of yours. I surrender." She said, confidently. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't mask the lingering pain in her voice. "I've never been so sure of anything before. We can start planning from tomorrow or something." A gentle smile, a little forced, caressing her delicate features.

"Hn." 'Finally, it's almost over. Soon it will all be done' He thought. He was relieved that he's almost done as he was never good at such things, anyway. "And one last thing….."

* * *

**Cliffhanger!**

**That marks the end of chapter two. It is a bit longer than the earlier.**

**Tell me what you think- was this chapter better or is it still missing something? Just click the button below and share your thoughts!**


	3. Sweet and bitter

**Thank you all for the reviews! I just wanted to say that I might not reply to all your reviews so don't get mad at me. -_-'**

**Hope you like this chapter! I'm sorry if you all thought that Sasuke was too mean in the earlier one. ****xD**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I'm just a student who writes fan fiction…**

* * *

"Hn." 'Finally, it's almost over. Soon it will all be done' He thought. He was relieved that he's almost finished with all of this trouble, as he was never good at such things, anyway. "And one last thing…"

He reached his hand into his pocket and by the looks of it; he was trying to take something out. Sakura had no idea what he was up to. 'Maybe it is a marriage certificate to sign right here on the spot!' She thought inwardly, 'No…even he wouldn't do that!'

He finally found what he seemed to be looking for in his pocket. He revealed a midnight-blue velvet box. As soon as he opened it, the said girl gasped. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. It just seemed so unreal!

The object held in front of her seemed to be a timelessly beautiful engagement ring. It had a silver band with a perfect sized emerald encrusted in the middle with little diamonds studded on both its sides. It was a million times better than Sakura had ever imagined or dreamt of.

He decided for himself that he did not have the patience for the girl to come out of her trance, so he casually just slipped it onto her ring finger. He noticed how she adored it and was dead sure that she would question him about it any minute now. Three…two…one…

"Sasuke-kun!" She exclaimed, tears of joy welling up in her eyes. She still couldn't come to believing that _he _was doing all of this! "You..I…It's beautiful!—I don't know what to say…I…"She trailed off. Instinctively, she took two steps forward and spread her arms to embrace him in a hug.

He instantly understood what she was about to do so he simply sidestepped to avoid her. "Sakura, don't get any ideas. It is simply a family tradition passed on by my mother. And remember the terms."

With those words, she was brought back to earth and with it: realization. 'Oh yeah, how could I forget? No contact.' She just shook that thought away quickly and stepped back.

"Even though it is just a traditional ring, thank you so much! I can't tell you how much I appreciate it!" She exclaimed, having completely forgotten about the earlier incident. "You know Sasuke-kun, it's really sweet that you even bothered to give it to me. Thank you again." She finished with a gentle smile, directing her joyous gaze at him.

"Whatever." He replied, a tiny, microscopic blush appearing on his cheeks. He immediately looked away hoping that it would go unnoticed by the girl. He didn't really like the fact that he was just called 'sweet' by her. Oh, but she didn't need sharp eyes to notice it, so she let out a cute little giggle.

"The ceremony will take place next week in the Uchiha compound. You are to shift into the Uchiha mansion before that. I want only the closest of friends invited. Got it? So there's not much to do. I think I'll be able to get everything executed." He said in his usual monotone voice, cutting away from the earlier casual and friendly tone.

"I understand all that but isn't next week too soon? We won't be able to get everything going! There's the food, dress, invitations, decorations and so much more! It's a _wedding _for heaven's sake Sasuke-kun!" She argued. She didn't know what was really up to him lately. First the sudden proposal, then the ring and now the extra-fast wedding! 'I'm sure I'll be busy the whole damn week working day and night if the wedding's next week!'

"I told you, I'll have everything under control. No complains or suggestions. It was an order. If you have any more questions, you know where to find me" He said. She had to get one thing straight, from now on, she should get that he was in charge.

With that said, more like stated, he walked off and left her at the bridge. Her jaw dropped open and eyes widened. "How could he just say all those unreasonable things and then dare to walk off and say something like 'these are my contact details

!' Jerk." She said out loud, pouting cutely while watching him walk away.

"I heard that, Sakura." He called out while turning to face her with a smirk. With that said, he walked away coolly.

She blushed slightly due to her little mistake. She crossed her arms; lips still formed in a pout, all like a stubborn child. "Hmph." She replied and turned her back too. They both started going their separate ways.

Just then, she remembered something, something dreaded: breaking the big news to her friends. How would they react? What would they think? She didn't know because even the first time when she heard him say the startling decision of marrying her, she was blank and didn't know what on earth to think about it.

"Sasuke-kun w-wait up" She called out. She wheeled around and started running towards the said man. She finally caught up to him. He glanced at her and quirked an eyebrow, questioning silently with actions what the matter was.

She was huffing a little. When she caught her breath again, she said. "Look, I want to…more like we should tell everyone about _us._ They have a right to know, at least team 7, we should definitely tell them together now or sometime really soon."

He took a few seconds to think. Maybe she was right; otherwise, if Naruto received the wedding invitation before being told personally, he would probably march up to Sasuke that moment and question him like crazy. He would think that he would have either manipulated his Sakura-chan in accepting or it is just a cheap, stupid trick.

He didn't like the sound of any. He sighed lightly and nodded his head in approval and motioned the girl to walk with him so that they could talk to their team right now. She smiled again. She personally didn't think he would agree to her decision. 'Looks like life with him might not be so harsh, judging by the way he is now.' She thought.

And so they both walked peacefully through the semi-crowded street. From the corner of her eye, she could see that some of Sasuke's fan girls were scowling at her. Noticing this, a proud smile crept up to her lips.

'This is going to be fun! I can't wait to see their ugly faces when they hear that _I'm_ getting _married_ to their _Sasuke-kun_!' She thought, a proud smile never once leaving her face.

* * *

"Thanks for the ramen Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto said with his usual grin plastered across his face.

"Naruto wait!" Kakashi said and sighed. He certainly did not want to pay the price of eight bowls of ramen, excluding Sai's and his own. When will that boy ever learn?

Naruto was all set to run out of the Ichiraku Ramen Shop but halted as he saw his other two teammates cum best friends arriving together. "Oh, hey both of you! Where were you both huh? We waited for you but got impatient and decided to start eating." He explained.

"Umm…I, actually, we need to tell you, or rather all of you, something. How about now?" Sakura said nervously. She wasn't sure how they were going to react, especially Naruto, and that very fact was killing her!

"Ok! Whatever you say…I'm really curious…" He replied. He was completely clueless. What could Sasuke and Sakura, together want to tell him? As far as he knew, they weren't even like the bestest of friends either. But he was pretty sure of one thing; it had to be either very good or very bad news. He just felt so, judging by their expressions.

The three of them went back into the popular ramen shop and met up with Sai and Kakashi. "Hey both of you. I'm sure you would like some lunch. You are really late, we waited." Their ex-sensei said looking up from his perverted orange novel. Sai also looked up at them and gave them one of his fake smiles.

"We both need to tell you all something important so please just sit down." Sakura said. They all were again sitting down in the food joint. She ordered some ramen for herself and Sasuke since they hadn't eaten yet and truthfully, she was really hungry, making her stomach feel even hollower.

"Oh? Then hurry up and just say it." Said Kakashi.

"Yeah, umm…you see…" Sakura started. "We thought about it, planned a bit, and want-"

"Hurry up, Sakura," Sasuke muttered. She just gave him a weak look as if saying 'I need your help'. He understood and his impatience kicking in (he didn't have patience for such petty matters which could be done faster if tried) he spoke, "We're engaged and getting married around next week." He bluntly stated, with not a hint of hesitance.

She jumped a little at his choice words. Here she was struggling to get something out of her mouth while he stated everything so, so simply! But, she was glad he was the one who said it. She couldn't do a better job herself so she gave him an appreciative glance quickly.

For Naruto, the room suddenly started to shrink. It felt as though the room was full of people and the heat level was rising rapidly in his body. ' it! Not at all…how could his two best friends of all time, out of nowhere decide to get married. He was two hundred percent sure that they hadn't dated ever, unless they hid it so well that it seemed as though romantic relationship between them didn't even exist! He never saw them chat or laugh together like every couple in love should. The blonde was really hit by the sudden news and change of situation.

Kakashi was also startled really badly by the announcement. He, like Naruto, never caught them together either and he thought that he was usually good at catching on to such things, like for instance; he was the first to find out about Asuma and Kurenai. But being the smarter one, their plan dawned upon him and he understood what all of this was really about- resurrection. He was truly disappointed at both his students.

Sakura, because she accepted Sasuke's offer in the first place instead of taking some time off, thinking and then finally realize how horrible life would be and then reject. Sasuke, because he even asked his innocent student Sakura to help him in the challenging task and use her in such a cruel way like. He was taking advantage of her. This is what went on in his mind. Later, he thought he should have a little chat with both of them, if he gets the time and opportunity.

Sai was surprised too. He had read about marriage and tried to about love too in guide books but how much could they actually help him? So, since he didn't know how to really react, he threw the couple one of his fake smiles again. "That's surprising actually…wow, ugly and the bastard getting married." He said, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

Sakura didn't react to his remark and Sasuke just scowled at him. She was really waiting for Naruto and Kakashi's actions. So far, it didn't look very happy. Sasuke also waited patiently but still showing no signs of eagerness, nervousness or anything. He just wore his usual bored face.

"That's…unexpected…but good to hear never the less." Kakashi said, trying to look like he approved of it. He did succeed. A smile appeared on Sakura's nervous face. She let out a breath of relief. 'One down, one to go.' She thought. She was happy that at least he approved. She looked at Naruto with anxiety, hoping he would be fine with it all, though that should be quite impossible to happen at least in the beginning.

"How?…When?…What?" The blonde mumbled. Then a vein in his temple started twitching. "TEME! YOU MUST HAVE SOMEHOW GOT SAKURA-CHAN INTO THIS MESS! HOW COME I DIDN'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT YOU BOTH, HUH?" He growled. "ANSWER ME!!!" He went to grab Sasuke by the collar but Sakura came in the way.

"Naruto, please calm down!" She said quickly and put him back on his seat. "We decided it _together_, ok? He didn't force me, I thought about it myself! I know it's sudden but we have our reasons and seeing the situation, I need all of your help to get us through this. Please understand!" She pleaded. She was worried though she did expect something like this.

Naruto calmed down a little but still could not completely penetrate it through his head. It was going to be hard but he knew they could do whatever they wanted with their lives and that he could just try and help them. He had to take it positively.

"Are you sure?" He said, looking from Sasuke to Sakura. "It…it's just really _damn hard_! How could you b-both want to get married in such short time? Even I know it's no joke! I hope you thought about it extremely well…."

"We're sure." Sakura said with a reassuring smile. Sasuke just nodded. He knew she would be able to calm everyone down and make them understand better than he ever could. Personally, he knew he couldn't do it at all, not even a bit.

"Y-ye-yeah, sure" Naruto said weakly. He still wasn't very sure of it all. He wasn't sure of his best friend, Sasuke. As far as he knew him, he hadn't been very loving and he was positive that he would tell him if he possessed feelings for her, the way he did in the past…

Sakura again breathed out the breath she had been holding for so long. She felt as if a heavy burden was lifted off of her shoulder. 'Ahh…relief' She thought to herself with a peaceful smile.

"But…just remember one thing." The blond said seriously (didn't see that coming, huh?) "If I find the teme EVER mistreating you, I will personally KILL HIM, and I'm DEAD SERIOUS, so believe it!" He finished in a threatening voice.

"Yeah, whatever." Sasuke snorted with a smirk. Sakura nudged him painfully. He just ignored it. Like he cares. "Yeah Naruto, you do that." She said while looking at the raven-haired man, who happened to be her fiancé. After that, she gave Naruto one of her signature kind smiles. 'Everything will be fine, Naruto. I won't let him hurt me and make me cry. It's a promise.' She thought.

* * *

**That's the end of another chapter! How was it? See, I added small, cute little Sasusaku moments for the people who thought Sasuke was too mean. That's how much I appreciate everything you all do for me!**

**And I have a question for you all…Do you want to see Sakura moving in with him or just skip to the mini-wedding?**

**Reviews= Faster updates!**


	4. My New Home

**Hey everyone! Here's another chapter for those of you who **_**still**_** read this story. Sorry I took longer to update; it's just because I hardly got any reviews and well, was a bit disappointed…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto but own this rubbish fanfic.**

* * *

It was another soothing morning in Konoha and today seemed more of a cheerful day as it was not as hot and dry as it was the past week. It was around eight O'clock and the citizens of the town were already filling up the streets and bazaars.

Sakura was still half-asleep on her bed, generally dreaming about the events that had taken place in the past few days and about how it was going to affect the rest of her life and change its direction completely and take it on a whole new, twisted path. She was anxious about how different her life was going to be in a mere matter of few days. She was also excited that she was going to get married which is the biggest thing that can happen in a girl's life. She was overjoyed at the thought that she was finally getting what she had wanted since she was eight years old, that is, getting married to Sasuke Uchiha- the number one most admired and envied guy in Konoha.

She had wanted this and she knew it. Back when she was twelve, everyone knew that she had wanted him for the sole reason that she used to be his top fangirl alongside her best friend Ino Yamanaka. Now when she looks back at that time, she laughs at herself; her naïve little self. But things took a roll when she was placed into his team, along with Naruto of course, when they had graduated to Genin level. This formed team 7 with their sensei as Kakashi. As a team, in the beginning, they didn't even recognize the meaning of 'teamwork' and were called a 'team' just for namesake. That was how chaotic things had started out to be.

But then, starting out with the bell test, they went for numerous missions together- from D and C ranked ones to an A rank one- they evolved. They took their own precious time to get together, but without fail, even those difficult times faced together, proved to be vital at the end of the day. It is because of that day at the academy, when they were placed in their three man squads that they have flowered into what they are today.

This applied very well to the relationship between Sasuke and herself- Sakura. They had started out very bitterly to be honest; this was mainly because she would only depend on others, especially Sasuke, to save or protect her and of course, because, in his words, 'she would waste her time flirting instead of training'. But as mentioned earlier, as the team evolved, so did they. She started working quite hard and did what she could to try and defend herself and help the others too when she could. She helped Sasuke when he was in shooting pain due to the curse mark given by Orochimaru, and when it had taken over his form. She was the one who helped him get through that rough period. This way, they started to gain each others' trust, understanding, and acknowledgement and even went as far as care.

Unconsciously, she smiled at the thoughts going around in her head. She reminisced about the sweet moments shared between herself and Sasuke; about how sometimes they were there for each other and helped one other through their hard and lonely times. She clearly remembered how she was the one who helped Sasuke tackle his curse mark by simply securing him in her arms. She reflected upon how she was so worried about him during the time of his battle with Gaara and how she hugged him teary-eyed in the hospital. That day was one of the few times he had not receded from her hold and just accepted her.

Then she took in account about that one night he had set off for Otogakure. It was her who had tried to stop him that night from continuing to pursue his lonely, revengeful path full of hatred. She recollected crystal clearly how she had confessed her feelings for him and how…

Knock. Knock.

That immediately awoke her from her sugary trail of thoughts. She groaned and just covered her ears with the sides of her fluffy pillow to block away the disturbing sound out. Despite her efforts, she could still faintly feel the soft knocking of the entrance door. Leaving her no choice, she lazily stretched and yawned and dragged her feet off from under the bed covers and rest them on the floor. She heavily walked to the door, annoyed, walked past the couch and reached the entrance door from where the sound initiated.

"I'm coming, I'm coming…" she said with a yawn. "Hold on already." She was a bit ticked off by the sudden invasion and was clearly grumpy as she was still sleepy. She was quite sure it was Naruto as he would often come by to ask her out to train or something. She jerked open the door grumpily and shouted, "What do you want now, Naru-Sasuke-kun? What are you doing here at this time…I mean…come in" She said, a little startled. She motioned her hand for him to come in and sit down. 'What on earth could he want now? Some more sudden shocking news to reveal or something…' She thought.

Sasuke usually never comes by her house unless invited. The fact that he was here now, early in the morning, was more than just unusual but nothing compared to what had been happening the last two days. She just didn't think this was the best time to be coming by; as her long, usually straight hair was quite messy and she was only dressed in a soft, strappy tank top and short shorts. She thought she should at least be dressed decently when he abruptly decides to pop up in her house.

"Um….Let me go and make you something…" She said hesitantly, turning her head to the direction of the kitchen.

"Not needed." He said nonchalantly. "I just came here to remind you to start packing. Now."

"Packing? For…what exactly? Have we been assigned a mission?" She asked curiously.

"No. Don't you remember you were to move in with me?" He enquired, scrunching his eyebrows very slightly.

She put her hands on her hips, now fully wide awake, and replied, "Of course I very well do but you told me I could whenever I wanted to as long as it is before our wedding!" She explained.

"Hn, but that doesn't mean you are going to do it exactly on that day itself or one day before." He started. "Do you have any problems if you start right now?" He said, still with his more or less emotionless façade on.

"Right now?! But I just woke up and moving in takes a long time and needs planning! It can't be done in a single day, you know. There are the clothes, furniture-"

"You don't need your furniture, just clothes and the other such usual essentials. You're moving into the Uchiha mansion. It shouldn't take time at all."

"Fine." She sighed. 'Talk about orders!' she thought and said "Ok, I'll start packing but as long as you let me freshen up first at least!"

He nodded in approval. He watched as she made her way through the bedroom door. After about fifteen minutes, she was back in front of him. She looked at him questioningly. "How come you're still here?"

"Just pack." He said. She nodded her head and mouthed a 'yes'. She again disappeared through the door. After waiting for about forty-five minutes on the couch, he wondered why she was taking so long just to pack essentials and clothes. He stood up and turned open the door-knob and saw the messy room. Sakura turned back to see who had come through and saw her fiancé scanning the clothes-filled room.

"Just give me some time, ok? It's hard! I don't know which clothes to throw away and which to take! I even have shoes to pack and- so please just wait or how 'bout I come to the mansion myself, later, ok? Please?" She said. She was fretting like crazy. Her room was sprawled all over with clothes and the last thing she wanted was to have him around inspecting the place at such a time.

"Hn. Be sure to finish by today. Latest by this evening." He said and left the room, back to his house

* * *

It had become afternoon by the time Sakura had finished packing. She looked at her house one last time before heading off to her new house, which would soon turn into her home, or so she hoped. She had decided not to sell it yet as she may have left some things behind due to the excess hurrying.

The day had become hotter, though cool winds blew occasionally. The sun glowed a warm shade of golden while hiding behind two small, fluffy clouds. Down below, Sakura had reached her destination, the Uchiha compound, the huge deserted area of the village. She gingerly entered the gate and looked around the place. The area gave her an eerie, haunted feeling. Perhaps due to the innumerable number of murders that had taken place in this, very spot many years ago on one still and lonely night. She had never been inside before as she had had no reason to and it was sort of out of limits, being a heritage spot. She looked at the piece of paper in front of her, which had the directions to which mansion to go to.

She finally stopped at one of the bigger mansions of the estate. This seemed to be her destination. She stepped up the three stairs which led to the entrance door. She rang the doorbell once and waited patiently for the lone resident of the compound and of course of this mansion too, to open the door. She heard the faint thumping noise of someone walking down wooden stairs. The door was opened and the resident, Sasuke, was there to greet her. He moved aside so that she could enter. She slowly walked in while dragging her suitcases along. She put them down and shut the door behind her. She let out a fatigued sigh.

"So, this is it." She breathed out while looking around in all directions. She took her time to look at each wall of the house. It was more or less quite simple but was huge and elegant. There was even a flight of semi-carpeted stairs leading to three rooms upstairs. The house was dotted with antique pieces here and there for decoration, with four rooms, including the kitchen, downstairs. It was clearly an Uchiha's home as their main symbol, the red and white uchiwa fan, was used as decorations in various places around the home. She couldn't wait to live here though it looked really hard to maintain and clean, due to its size.

"Follow me. I'll show you your bedroom." Sasuke said monotonously. She did as instructed and he led her upstairs to the middle room. He opened the door to reveal a grand carpeted room. "This is the master bedroom and yours for now." Sakura stared at the room in awe. It was truly stunning yet looked warm and homely.

The grand bed stood proudly in the centre with soft net curtains. There was a large dresser and a few cupboards, with beautifully carved patterns. Every corner was basically indescribably beautiful, in Sakura's eyes at least. She ran in and sat on the bed and bounced on it out of happiness at once. "Wow, Sasuke-kun, it's beautiful!" She exclaimed. "I pick this side, away from the window and nearer the bathroom and dresser. Is that ok with you?"

"This is only your bed for now, Sakura." He said, looking at her with a what-did-you-expect glance.

She was slightly taken aback by the sentence. "Oh, ok, fine. Whatever you say then." She said. She didn't really expect him to sleep in the other room until their wedding. Every normal couple usually shares the bed before and after the wedding. She sighed and made a mental note to remind herself that this wasn't the 'normal relationship'. Really, she should quit expecting the ordinary with him around!

"I'll just go and get my luggage from downstairs then." She said quickly. After a few moments, she arrived back upstairs to her new bedroom and found Sasuke still in the room. "Is there something you want, Sasuke-kun?" She enquired.

"Hn. Listen, I'm going for a mission in an hour and will return late at night. Don't cook dinner for me." He said, waiting for her to reply.

"…Ok. And how are the wedding preparations going? Are you sure you don't need any of my help?" She replied.

"Hn. Just buy your wedding gown yourself and tomorrow, we'll discuss the issue."

"Right." She nodded. She had totally forgotten about the wedding gown! She was suddenly all pumped up and energized just thinking about buying on of those beautiful, flowing gowns. She bent down and started unzipping her suitcases to start unpacking everything into the cupboards and bathroom. Sasuke left the room and headed to pack for his mission.

The day just passed with Sakura roaming and exploring the area and its whereabouts. She prepared a simple dinner for herself, spent sometime in the veranda of her bedroom, enjoying the crisp, cool breeze blowing past her hair and face, watched some TV and went to sleep.

Late in the night, Sasuke had also returned safely, checked on Sakura and went to sleep in the guest room himself, clearly tired due to the mission.

* * *

It was next morning and Sasuke had head off for wedding preparations. Sakura was up and was about to leave for the infirmary for work. The doorbell rang through the house and she opened the door and saw her female, blond friend march right in., who for some reason, looked quite furious. She was really stricken to see her here. 'How on earth did she know I moved in here?' The pinkette thought.

"Ino, how-" She started but was shortly interrupted when her friend started to speak. Correction, more like yell.

"SAKURA!" She shouted. Sakura sighed deeply as she knew that there was a long speech coming up dipped with hundreds of questions. "You NEVER told me that you were going around with the UCHIHA, FOREHEAD-GIRL! Naruto and Sai faithfully told me EVERYTHING about your little SECRET you've been hiding from me, your BEST friend. You are getting married and did not think it necessary to inform me?! You've even moved in with him and god knows WHEN he even became your boyfriend! Well, ANSWER ME GIRL!"

"Ino, pig, calm down and _sit_!" She said, trying her level best to reach her best friend's voice intensity. Ino did as told, though she still looked infuriated yet excited. She seated herself beside her on the couch. "Ok, I'm going to explain everything and before you start questioning me again, _listen_ to what I have to say!" Ino was silent and looking intensely at Sakura for a good explanation. Taking the silence as her cue, she said, "Hm, good. So it all started about two days ago. Sasuke-kun proposed to me suddenly out of the blue for his own personal reasons. The next day I accepted and he gave me this ring," She showed it to her, "And then he told me that I should move in with him and that we were to get married in a week's time.

Everything was abrupt and we have never dated and nor he has ever been my boyfriend and I just moved in with him yesterday afternoon, ok?"

Ino nodded in approval and let out a girly squeal. "I guess it will do for now, forget the details. What really matters is that you are just about to get married to the hottest guy in Konoha! I can't believe it! Aren't you excited??? Anyway," She looked at her with a wicked smile, "So, how is he?"

"He's fine. We haven't talked much since he was out on a mission-"

"No, not like that, silly! I mean, how is he in… bed…?" She asked with a seductive smirk, waiting patiently for her answer.

Sakura instantly felt her cheeks burn and were turning a nice shade of crimson "Ino! We haven't…I mean…Uh…It's not…what you…." She trailed off, not exactly knowing how to explain the whole muddled up situation.

"What?! Are you saying that you, Haruno Sakura, fiancé of Sasuke Uchiha, haven't slept him yet? Are you insane?" She said disbelievingly. "If I were you, by now I bet I wouldn't even be able to walk up here due to all the tiresome activity all night! Sheesh Forehead, what's wrong with you?"

"Oh, you don't understand! It's way more complicated than just a normal relationship. I'll tell you more about it all some other day, ok? Anyway, would you like to go shopping with me to buy all the wedding dresses?" She asked.

"Now you're talking!" She chirped excitedly.

And so, the days before the wedding were packed with work and organizing left for Sasuke and Sakura. The venue had been settled and decorated to perfection, the bridesmaids, groomsmen and best-man had been chosen and informed, the wedding gown and dresses for the bridesmaids had been bought and etc. Basically, all the preparations had been completed just before the big day, after which Haruno Sakura would become-

Uchiha Sakura.

* * *

**End of chapter 4! Due to a shortage of reviews and votes, I just randomly picked to do the moving in. The wedding is up next. After that, the real fun part starts!**

**Please review- It's what keeps me going; your support and kindness (cheesy much?)**


	5. Wedding like no other

**Hey again and thank you all for the reviews and I hope not to disappoint you in this chapter! **

**Warning: Since I'm Indian, I may get a few things wrong here and there in the wedding as I have never been to such a wedding and only learnt about it from fanfics or TV. So, you can correct me if I'm wrong and all.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; I'd rather own Sasuke xD**

* * *

"Ouch, Ino! Stop pulling my hair so much and treating it like some weeds that need to be pulled out and Tenten, careful on the blush please! And hey, don't you think that's enough hairspray, Hinata?" Sakura said in annoyance, wincing each time her friend, Ino tugged at her hair painfully. Today was the big day. The day the two- Sasuke and Sakura- were to be united. The bride's friends, Ino, Tenten and Hinata were helping her get ready. So far, it was clearly annoying.

Everything was going the way the raven-haired man had planned; it was a pleasant day, not too cold or hot. There were a few puffy clouds floating about in the sky and the sun glowed a sheet of dazzling white. All in all, the weather was perfect- perfect for an outdoor wedding just as hoped and predicted. The wedding was being held in the Uchiha compound itself in one of the central gardens there. The grasses were lush green and occasionally swept to one side due to the refreshing, cool breeze. As per wedding decorations, everything had been arranged and yet there was still half an hour to go before the main event begins. The whole display was set to perfection.

A white, flowery arch dotted with other colourful ones stood still facing the chairs arranged for people to sit on, leaving sufficient place for the carpeted aisle through which the bride was to make her way to the bridegroom. Behind the arch was situated a higher, small, stage like ground. This was where they were to stand with the priest, exchanging vows of love and protection. The whole span was beautified with flowers and curtains and decorated just like one of those dream weddings. A small crowd of people had been invited, like the rest of team seven and for Sakura, even the Hokage herself, Tsunade, was to come to greet the newly wed couple. The whole set-up and arrangement was ideal and seemed flawless. The bridegroom was almost ready and the bride was too.

The reception was to be held in one of the halls next to the crisp gardens, which was also well in place with all the caterers having arrived already. The hall was also much decorated like the wedding area, with the addition of candles, tables and chairs, a dance floor and a smaller levied area for the DJ to take his position. Both, the wedding area and the reception hall were adorned with Sakura that is Cherry Blossom flowers, on the bride's request in order to personalize the ceremony. The Uchiha clan's symbol was also occasionally used here and there as an ornamental piece.

After a while, the guests had already started arriving which caused the bridesmaids and the bride to start panicking even though they were ready but unsure if they were all looking perfect or not. Back in the room meant for them, they were all fighting for the mirror.

"Move over Ino! You've had the mirror to yourself since the past half hour or something!" Tenten protested.

"Well, obviously! I need it more than you since I'm going to have so many people looking at me." Ino argued back.

"And are you saying I won'…" The brunette started just to be interrupted by her pink-haired friend, who was the bride of the evening. "Umm…don't you both think that since I'm the bride, I should at least have a look at myself since I haven't got an opportunity to thanks to your bickering!" She complained. Both the girls instantly turned their heads and moved away to make space for her in front of the mirror. Seeing she finally got the chance to see how she was looking, she smiled victoriously.

"You know what Forehe - I mean Sakura, I must admit that today, you actually look stunningly gorgeous, thanks to us of course!" Ino chirped excitedly taking her first look at her friend too. Sakura mouthed a thank you to all her friends who complimented her and helped her get dressed. She finally turned to the mirror, and in that very minute, she stood still with a disbelieving smile. Today was her day so she certainly didn't have to act modest if she didn't want to. She couldn't believe that she could actually look this…in one word: beautiful.

She was wearing a white halter style gown. The back was barely halfway empty and in the clothed part of it, slits were cut revealing more of her vanilla skin. The gown hugged every curve in her body and the bottom of it, flew outwards with soft ruffles joining it along the way. The whole piece was made out of soft and smooth silk. She wore her hair in a messy bun with locks framing her pretty face. The veil started from the hair and led its way through to the bottom of her back. To top it all of, she wore some elegant strap heels and her make-up showed of the best features of her face, her eyes, for instance.

Slowly but surely, a smile of pure happiness crept up to her face. A wave of optimism washed over her. So far, though this was just the very beginning, everything was better than expected and she truly started feeling, perhaps for one of the first times that this angst relationship between herself and Sasuke could actually work out but then she instantly shook away the thought just as it came. Was she really judging how her wedding will most probably turn out on the basis of how she was looking? Wow, this whole wedding thing must really be getting to her head. She giggled a little at her silliness. As she came back to reality, she remembered that she was going to get married in a few minutes and immediately turned her head to the wall clock.

"There's only five minutes to go! What to do, what to do!" She said. She suddenly got extremely nervous and conscious even though she hadn't stepped out of the room yet. "How's everything outside and Sasuke-kun, is he ready and, and the –" She trailed off worriedly. A person's voice from outside told her that everything was ready and that the wedding is to start in about two minutes or so. Sakura let out a frustrated squeal.

"Hey, hey, relax Sakura, you'll be fine just as everything else is, ok? Not to worry, we're all here for you." Ino said and Hinata and Tenten both agreed and replied 'yeah'.

Out in the garden, the wedding had almost started and Sasuke was doing some last minute check-ups like whether the cake had arrived or not and he inspected each part of the reception hall as well as the garden. Everything seemed to be in order: the rings, guests, best man, which is Naruto, the food, music etc. The only thing that seemed out of place was Kakashi, who was going to lead Sakura through the isle. If he's late today, Sasuke's going to make sure that he soon becomes late forever. He checked the clock and headed for the wedding.

Sasuke stood there with his best man and priest at the altar, dressed handsomely in a black tuxedo and his usual spiky hairstyle. He waited there for all the bridesmaids and groomsmen to pass quickly as he wished nothing more than to get all this over with as soon as possible. He saw the crowd stand up and guessed that Sakura was going to come through any moment. He saw Kakashi and her arriving together, walking on the aisle towards the altar. He glanced at Sakura casually and instantly, stopped breathing. He had never noticed her much, speaking of looks, but today, no matter how much he denied it, she was breathtaking. Any guy with even a cinch of hormones would feel the same way.

They finally reached the altar and the priest started chanting the usual speech and pledges. While he was going on and on, Sakura was in thought. This was finally it. The day they were going to unite.

She promised herself that she was never going to cry no matter how rough their journey was going to be. She was going to make him happy just as she is and always will be. Everyday, she would take it upon herself to brighten the hours for Sasuke, who by the way was looking dead handsome today. This day onwards, everyday of the year would be a task until she achieves her secret little goal. Today marked a very special day, one of the most important ever. She was getting married, and here's a little secret, due to her missions and job, she over-pressures herself and never leaves any leisure time to enjoy, which meant that she was still a virgin and has never even had her first kiss and today, she would cross both those lines.

She smiled at the man in front of her who looked pretty bored by what the priest was saying. Naruto and all her friends were grinning brightly at her. She smiled back and decided for herself that this smile would never wipe off from her face, so she would try to do.

It was finally time to exchange the rings. They were both handed each others rings and on cue, he reached out for her hand gently and slipped in the ring like he had done the first time he had proposed to her. She did the same and through it all, she had the most cheery smile plastered on her face, never once faltering. She heard the cheering of the crowd and heard the priest say that the groom was now permitted to kiss the bride. The words sunk in and she started shaking very slightly as Sasuke looked at her, still emotionless, and started inching forward. The earlier cheering started to fade and everything, according to her, had come to a halt and all she could see was him inching closer by the second.

After what seemed like forever, their lips met in a quick kiss. But to her, it felt like an eternity. She felt as if her knees were about to buckle and the whole world was spinning. She barely got any time to respond as it all happened too fast at the same time and as they separated, she was still dazed. Still not fully being able to catch on about what had just happened, she looked at him and then the roaring crowd, and realized that she was finally married. It was all over and she was finally, after years of yearning, an Uchiha. Once dazed, her smile immediately came back and her happiness was unexplainable. She recalled her kiss and felt as if all her worries concerning this marriage, had sprouted wings and flown away. She was going to just lay back and enjoy today; their day,

Sasuke on the other hand, was daresay, happy and relieved that everything was almost over. Only the reception was left and the only hard part about it was the first dance with his bride and answering people's questions. He really didn't like talking to people, so conversing with so many people would only prove painful for him.

He heard the priest say the closing sentence regarding how he and Sakura were Mr. and Mrs. Uchiha. With that said, they all headed for the reception hall.

* * *

It had become really late at night and the wedding and reception were over. Sakura was currently waiting for Sasuke in their bedroom. She was shaking with nervousness. She had been eagerly waiting for this night as well as dreading it. She wasn't ready for it but wasn't sure if she would ever be. Right now it would be the time when she would completely surrender herself to her new husband, Sasuke.

She heard the sound of soft approaching footsteps and guessed it was time. She heard the click of the door and saw the said man appear. He closed the door behind him and inhaled in a calm breath. He looked at her shaking figure and stepped forward towards her and looked straight into her uneasy eyes.

With a serious edge to his voice he said, "Sakura" She jumped a little as she heard her name being called in his deep voice. She nodded and he continued, "I'm going to make things very clear now." He paused a little to see her slightly startled expression. "You don't have to do this right now. Whenever you are ready. But once you are, I will surely expect an heir from you some day or the other, if you catch exactly what I mean." He gave her a little while to understand the statement. A number of things were going through her confused and conflicted mind.

She knew what he meant. She was, in fact, surprised that he actually gave her a choice of what she wanted to do instead of starting off whatever the whole purpose of this 'wedding' was. She sighed as she came to a decision. This was their wedding night after all and what better day to start it? There would never be a better opportunity- so she thought. She nodded slightly, her nervousness all of a sudden fading, she felt obliged to continue. "Today would be…fine" She breathed out. Sasuke still didn't avert his gaze from her for a while, as though trying to search her face for any regret or disapproval. He did find a few signs of sadness but just ignored it. She was smart enough to decide for herself and he would respect that.

He reached out his hand and flicked off the light. The room was now pitched dark, with only the moonlight illuminating it a soft midnight blue. Sakura felt some weight on the bed and felt herself being pushed back slightly. After that everything went by really fast. She was lying flat on the bed, with the man she loved hovering on top of her. She could smell his masculine scent and savored it. This was the closest she had ever been to him, actually, the closest she has ever been to any man before.

She felt his hands roam around her clothed body and the next thing she knew; she was wearing nothing at all. As far as she could make out, Sasuke was currently shirtless. If it were any other girl, they would probably squeal out of delight, but not her. To her, all there was in this room was darkness. She didn't know what to feel, other than nervousness, conscious, and hot in the cheeks out of shyness. She was currently feeling a mixture of them and, of course, a strange kind of sadness. She unexpectedly felt his lips on hers which blanked out her mind. This time the kiss was longer than at the wedding, which allowed her to slowly respond to it.

Without warning, all of a sudden, she felt this shooting pain spread through her whole body. Out of reflex, her eyes started watering and she screamed out in pain. After taking in a few gasps of breath, she came to understand what had just happened. He was inside her. Through the darkness, she saw his soulless eyes look at her as though waiting for an answer or sign of approval, perhaps to continue. After a while, the earlier pain started to subside and she felt him moving in and out of her. Every thrust hurt her, mostly emotionally. She thought she was supposed to feel ecstatic at a time like this, but what she felt was a total contradiction. She knew the truth behind this was just for an heir and till now, it ate up every part of her even though she had promised herself to brush all of it away.

After what seemed like forever, she felt him retreat and the earlier weight on the bed, shifted off. She was feeling weak and helpless just like when she was twelve. She heard the noise of the bathroom door shut and made out that Sasuke was in it. She decided to put on some clothes, as no matter how broken she felt right now, she did not want to feel tomorrow's embarrassment when he would see her naked. She inwardly, laughed at herself bitterly for getting such thoughts at a time like this, but nevertheless, did as her mind told her.

The night was almost over. Sasuke, her new husband, was sleeping peacefully beside her, breathing lightly, now only half clothed, as far as she could make out. Sakura, on the other hand, couldn't quite come to doing the same; sleeping. How she yearned it right now but was too scared to do so. She was afraid of having nightmares which may tell her to back out of this relationship before it's too late to escape.

She had made up her mind once and that was it. No backing out no matter what. This was just the beginning that started out with thorns which, hopefully, will end smoothly. Naïve she knew she was for still believing in happy endings, but looks like true dreams never do completely wither away.

She looked at the direction in which the window stood. She sat up a bit to gaze at the pale moon, sitting still there among the many twinkling stars. It was really a beautiful night as cool breezes occasionally blew through the blue sky. But to Sakura, right now, everything seemed grey but hoped that someday, she would be able to make everything in her life start twinkling again and turn it into a bright star, which is made joining two happy souls.

She breathed in the cool night's air before dozing off comfortably on her soft bed, beside the other occupant, Sasuke. One thing was for sure, she would never make the mistake of blaming him if her life doesn't turnout to be the fairytale she had wished for. He, after all, had always given her the choice of turning away and after being through so many suffering years himself, he deserved rest and peace for once.

* * *

**End of chapter 5, and before you start throwing in the shoes, I'll admit too that this was the worst chapter yet, especially for the un-detailed half lemon, which was, intentionally done like that, by the way. **

**For this chapter, I don't expect too many reviews, so lucky you! xD**


	6. Twisted Challenge

**Hey and sorry for the late update again! You see, my computer crashed so….yeah. I hope this chapter goes better than the other and I'm sure you all hope so too xD**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and sadly, never will, period.**

* * *

A week had passed since the big Uchiha wedding. The newly wed couple is currently in their bedroom; one up against the wall and the other against that person.

"Sasu..ke-kun…please…stop" Sakura said, giving the said man a little push away from her. She had just interrupted the start of another heated session. As Sasuke heard her unexpected plea, he backed away very slightly.

"What?" He said coldly. He didn't know why she had just stopped him. He was surprised, though as usual, didn't show it and kept to his usual impassive face.

"Look, can't we just leave it here for today, please Sasuke-kun? We've been doing it non-stop for a week, every night!" She said whilst feeling a little embarrassed.

"Explain yourself." He plainly stated. Why she was stopping him, he didn't understand.

"It's, well- I'm just tired, that's all. I need a break." She said frankly. The truth was that he never even made her feel cared while doing it and it was true that she needed a break from that. It doesn't even give her much pleasure except for being close to him, since he doesn't make love to her, which is a given and she accepts that he may never as per their stupid, stupid deal and his even stupider warning of being mean for eternity.

"A break? Why, from what?" He asked disbelievingly, though never showing it. He didn't think she made much sense. Why would she need a break? Any normal person wouldn't mind doing it everyday and it's impossible that the reason could be that he's bad at it and thus she doesn't enjoy it, not that he does it for that purpose anyway…but I mean, he's an Uchiha and they are supposed to be good at everything.

Sakura thought quickly for an answer. She obviously knew she couldn't say 'because there's no love in it and so I don't like doing it much'. The past week, she thought, could have been much worse due to the missing emotions in their relationship but, at least he always respected her up to an extent and did not treat her like trash. It's just her own little problem and despair that he doesn't love her and that her fairytale hasn't come true yet…

The next few words just flew out of her mouth almost automatically, "I think I need some kind of security, you know, I mean if you're just going to try and have babies with me everyday and then find it's not working, how do I know you won't try it with someone else like…what's her name… Karin. But if you do it thrice a week or something, I'll know that you are going to wait for me." As soon as she finished saying what she had to, she clasped her hands on her mouth and let out a light gasp. What she just said didn't even make sense to her and was hoping Sasuke would just let it be too and not get some wacky wrong idea out of it…

At first, it is true even Sasuke did not get a gist of what she was blabbering about, but decided he couldn't just leave it and perhaps look dense. He understood something about 'security', 'Karin', 'another girl', 'babies' and 'run away'. He tried to put it together and got something out of it.

"Are you saying that you feel I am just using you as a baby-machine- who might be thrown away anytime- because you think you were an easy target?" He said seriously staring intently into her eyes. It is true that she was an easy target but he mainly chose her because he knew her best from the girls and she was a very worthy kunoichi, which comes to show that he chose her especially as she was his first choice. And about the baby-machine thing, he thought he gave her more respect than that and even for him, the phrase 'baby-machine' was a tad bit too harsh.

"I, uh, what- No! Of course…" She paused. All of a sudden, an idea popped up into her head, though she was skeptical about it, she let it out, "That's very close to what I mean! You knew I would say yes to you and you took advantage of it. So…-"

"Sakura-" He tried to interrupt as he was losing his temper, only to be cut off by Sakura.

"- Wait, I'm not done! As I was saying, you know that I..I still have…feelings…for you right?" She said while biting her lip nervously. Even though she had told him this before and was sure he knew, she had to gather up her courage to say that line.

"Hn. Get to the point," stated Sasuke.

"…Ok. Well, for two months, I'm going to, I'll be very frank, try to make you care for me and hopefully, something more may also happen if I get lucky that is and…within this time limit, I won't let you get…intimate…with me." She breathed out as she finished. She was sure he would refuse at first but she was stubborn and she won't let him go until he accepts her "request". "Do you, umm…understand?" She said.

"Why would I ever agree and as far as I remember, you completely agreed to help me. Why on earth do you think any of what I said is going to change just because you wish so?" He spat angrily. "What is your damn problem, Sakura?!"

"I know, alright? But, please, maybe we can start out with a month or something, because…I…need this…" She whimpered. Tears were swelling up in her eyes, daring to fall but she held it back and continued shakily, "I know I shouldn't have ever accepted your offer but…please just take it up as a challenge…"

He was really frustrated by her now. First she says some crazy stuff which didn't even make sense, then she accuses him of using her and now she expects him to change his mind about resurrecting his clan for two months for her sake. "What are you going to do if I refuse?" He said with a smirk, as if challenging her.

Just as she had expected; he refused plainly and clearly. Now what? She has known Sasuke for a long time and as far as she knew him, she had figured that he never put down a challenge. Thinking along those lines, she cooked up another idea. "Nothing. I'll simply do nothing. It's just too bad that you're refusing you know…I guess you're not up to it…I think Sai would be able to handle it more easily than you…It's ok. At least you'll still have me and the future clan to hide behind…" She slyly said in a casual, wondering tone.

He immediately glanced at her while narrowing his eyes. Did she just say that that pale-faced emotionally retarded guy could handle emotions better than him, Sasuke Uchiha the pure genius? Damn that girl, who was currently smirking and burning his anger up. She's really asking for it…two months wouldn't really make a difference would it? They're about twenty now and have just been married so technically they still have a long way to go, right? And he could definitely put up with Sakura's petty little challenge and declare it a failure.

If he wins, she would keep quiet and never mention anything like this again. All he had to do was be the way he is- non-caring, yet loyal and whatever he does, he must not fall for her which is perhaps the easiest condition of all to avoid. Just for two months, that's all. "Fine, I'll do it." He said through gritted teeth and immediately stomped out of the bedroom and shut the door harshly.

For a minute, there was complete silence, except for the ticking of the clock. After that, Sakura's cheerful voice rang through, maybe, the whole house. She was really happy that he had just accepted her offer. Now it was finally her time. Truthfully, she had no strategy planned on what to do but she knew she wanted this and had decided that she wouldn't force anything on him or try extra hard.

She would just be her usual kind self and if sparks flew- good. If they don't- perhaps he'll only care about her and not love her. She deeply knew she shouldn't expect extremes such as love from him. She would only be disappointed if she kept faith in that thought. She looked at the clock and saw that it had become pretty late and that she should go to bed. She was just about to reach for the door to tell Sasuke that she was going to bed but he beat her at it.

He bust open the door before she could even touch the doorknob. She was a bit startled by the abrupt entry. Their eyes met for a mere second. They were barely a few inches apart. He made the first move by backing away and announced, "I'm going to sleep in the next room for the next two months. We'll see who's more successful at this measly little task off yours." He said flatly and shut the door once again before she could even interject.

She sighed. Why would he do that? Then it sunk in. He had seriously taken it up as a challenge and he must have thought that if he stayed away from her, she wouldn't be able to "plan" on doing something funny to him at night. She giggled at her thoughts. From now on, things were going to get interesting. So she hoped as she still wasn't sure about what exactly she was going to do. 'I guess I'll just go with my original idea of being natural' she thought.

She switched off the lights and tucked into bed alone. During the few days she spent on this bed next to Sasuke, she had really enjoyed it and did miss him now since he went off to the next room. She loved his scent and his even breathing was somewhat a lullaby to her which rid her off of her worries and put her to sleep and let the sweetest of dreams consume her. She loved the way his handsome face's cold feature disappears when he sleeps peacefully next to her. 'I guess today's share of good things is over.'

After a while, she fell asleep.

* * *

Just after Sasuke had left the master bedroom, he switched off all the lights of the house and went to his new temporary bedroom. The bed was quite ordinary compared to the bed Sakura was perhaps currently sleeping peacefully in, thought Sasuke. For a minute before stepping into bed, he thought about everything that had just happened earlier this night.

He wasn't a hundred percent sure about his decision even back then. He personally thought it was a very dumb challenge and two months will go by in a flash. He wondered for a moment whether Sakura had intentionally married him to get this plan up and running. But something told him otherwise; knowing her, he guessed, that she wouldn't have even thought about it before and that the idea came to her on the spot. She probably doesn't even know herself what she is going to do about it.

All he had to do was not fall for her and not show any positive affection. The farthest he should dare to go is 'care'. It shouldn't matter much if he started caring for her as, whether he admits it or not, he does possess a lot of that feeling, but not for her currently. Rounding up his thoughts, he made his way to the bed and saw that there were no pillows and even blankets were missing. The bed only had a bed cover and sheet spread over it. He inwardly sighed and made his way to the room where his wife was to grab some pillows and blankets to tuck into.

He saw the lights off and could make out through the darkness distinctly, that she was sleeping comfortably, occupying even his side of the bed. He got near her and gently slipped his hand under her head, careful not to wake her up. With his other hand, he grabbed a single pillow and tugged at it lightly.

He let go off her head and held on to the pillow. He saw her stir a little and again heard her rhythmic breathing continue. Now all that was left to do was grab the spare blanket on which her leg was carelessly spread over.

He moved over by her stretched legs and swiftly lifted them up and grasped his blanket and pulled it out. He was just about to turn and leave but stopped as he heard his name being called very softly, almost inaudible.

"Sasuke-kun…"

He turned around and saw that Sakura was still sleeping and her eyes were shut to prove it. He guessed he must have just imagined it or it must have been that she was talking in her sleep. He went with the second option as the first one was probably impossible. He gingerly walked across the room and made his way out of it.

Tomorrow, he had to leave for an early morning short mission and it was probably best if he just rested as much as he could today.

* * *

It was morning and as Sakura fluttered her eyes open, she closed her eyes again due to the white blinding light of the welcoming sun. She opened her eyes in a squint and her eyes started adjusting to the light. After a while, she went to the bathroom, freshened up and made her way downstairs.

She looked at the clock sitting still on the wall and realized that it was already eleven O'clock. She had slept in and thus didn't make breakfast for Sasuke who was probably angry about it now. She called his name out loud quite a few times while scanning the house for him. She guessed that he probably had gone out to train.

Since it was this late, she decided to make lunch instead of making breakfast for herself. She took this opportunity of being alone at home and planned on preparing a big, special meal for Sasuke. After two hours of hard work at the kitchen, she had finally completed her goal of cooking her husband a delicious three course meal.

She arranged the table neatly and set all the food on it perfectly and sat on the couch in order to rest. She glanced at the clock and kept thinking that he would arrive anytime now. It had already become four O'clock by the time Sasuke returned home from his mission, with minor injuries such as light scratches on his hand.

He looked around the house and the smell of food faintly reached his nose. He headed for the dining table on which various dishes were temptingly arranged. He was quite tired so was glad to see the food. He saw that two clean plates along with cutlery were kept and realized that Sakura hadn't eaten herself.

As he thought of her, he decided it was best he announced his presence so she could eat too.

"Sakura. Sakura?" He said loudly, not exactly shouting. He walked over by the couch and before he sat on it he noticed that Sakura was soundly sleeping on it. Coming to the conclusion that it was best to wake her up, he shook her lightly and called out her name.

She stirred and groaned a little due to the disturbance and opened her eyes lazily. First she just saw a blurry image of a pale man with dark hair and then as things got clearer, she saw that it was Sasuke. She woke up with a startled jerk and tried straightening her hair and fixing her clothes.

"Oh, you're back! I've been waiting for you…what's the time?" She said hurriedly.

"Hn. It's four." He replied nonchalantly and seated himself beside her.

"I'm sure you haven't eaten yet, so are you hungry and where were you? If you give me a minute, I'll just heat-up the food," She said in a concerned tone. She got up and started heating all the scrumptious food with the help of the microwave.

"I've not eaten. I went for a short mission." Sasuke said while seating himself on one of the chairs of the dining table. Sakura joined him on the table and sat opposite him. She served him a little of each item she had prepared. She waited for him to taste each dish and looked up at him hopefully. She was expecting some kind of comment on her cooking but received none.

She sighed sadly as she was really hoping for a review after her effort and work. She bitterly thought that this is exactly what happens when you expect such a thing from a guy like Sasuke. Trying to get her mind of it, she started the topic of his mission.

"Um, Sasuke-kun?" She said uncertainly. He looked at her and replied a 'Hn'. Taking this as her cue, Sakura continued what she had to say. "I was just saying that I would really appreciate it if you would inform me before heading out for a mission, short or long. According to that, I'll make the necessary preparations, ok?' She said in a very polite enquiring tone.

"Hn. Whatever." He said monotonously and left the table and placed his plate on the sink for her to wash. Sakura followed him with her eyes sadly. She saw him leave the room. She hoped he would keep his word. She played with her food a bit and forcefully stuffed it in her mouth as she wasn't very hungry. Apparently, she blamed him for eating up her appetite.

She pouted childishly at the thought that she didn't get any reviews on her cooking from the jerk Sasuke. She quietly cleared the table and washed the dishes. She then went upstairs and told Sasuke that she was heading for work. He didn't even look at her and nodded while resuming writing his mission report while sitting on his new temporary bed.

The rest of the day went by wordlessly. She came back from work by eight and prepared some ordinary soup. Sasuke was at home. By ten, they had both finished eating and then they headed off to their respective bedrooms to rest silently.

* * *

**End of chapter 6! I'm not too happy with the beginning of this chapter…actually, come to think of it; I never like the beginnings and endings of my chapters. Hm, too bad…**

**As the chapters proceed,, please tell me if I'm moving too slowly, ok?**

**What do you think of it? Tell me! Press the shiny button below this sentence…**


	7. Please?

**School's just started so most probably I'll only be adding chapters on weekends from now on. Yeah…school just sucks…**

**Oh and let me just warn you…this chapter may not be that good 'cause I'm on writer's block**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto.**

* * *

Ring ring.

Ring ring.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Sakura called out while hurrying through the hallway to reach the telephone that was just impatiently ringing to be picked up. She plopped herself on the couch beside the small table on which the source of the buzzing was placed. "Hello?" She said into the phone.

"Hey Sakura, Ino here!" The voice at the other end chirped excitedly.

"Oh hi, Ino! So, anything new going on?" She said, only half-surprised. Ino sure did call her ever so often and considering that, she should have already phoned Sakura about everyday of the week especially since the sudden turn of events.

"There you go again! You're the one who just became a week ago and you're asking me if there's _'anything new going on'_? Sheesh forehead!"

"Ok, ok…sigh; what did you really call me for? Who broke up with who or…."

"Forget that, you just GOT HITCHED! THAT is big news! I want to know everything…what you ate, how he treats you, loves you and you get it! And you've even obviously lost your virginity and oh, how many times a week do you have _it?"_

Sakura jumped a little. She really didn't know what to reply. She wasn't sure whether she should tell everyone about the reality of her relationship. Actually, she wasn't even sure if she was ever going to tell anyone at all or not. The thing is, she just felt that people may start judging her—him-- or even more, them. What also bothered her was about how people may feel sympathetic for her, advice her and basically, people may just over-react especially if it is Naruto or even Kakashi.

Sasuke had just recently got the freedom to roam around the village, trusted by the majority of the civilians. If people were to get the hint, added with a pinch of salt, that he was just using her or something and that she was forced recklessly into this, she feared he may be tagged as a traitor once again. She, after all, still held some love for him and it would hurt the both of them if he were to be denied it right all over again. Naruto and her efforts and hard-work of retrieving him would also go to waste.

It was a difficult decision with little choices to pick from- either she revealed the harsh truth about their relationship, hide it forever and pretend to be well off and happy or simply keep the truth locked inside to expose as the right opportunities come by, taking its own, sweet time.

The thought also occurred to her that her imagination may just be going too wild which made every decision seem like it could turn into a nightmare. Perhaps telling or not, is not that much of a big deal that she thought it could turn out to be. It could also be that people may just end up saying things like- "oh, it's just too bad you both are not that much in love." It could happen…

…right? It was all too blurred and time just kept ticking and she didn't even notice that she had kept Ino waiting on the other line for several seconds now, wondering where she was gone. Conclusion still didn't strike her being.

Sakura took in quiet deep breath. She had come to a verdict; it may be wrong or whatever, but she wanted it like this, "Well, we're okay and all. Everything is…yeah." She said quietly. "I mean, Sasuke-kun gets missions oh so often and I'm always stuck at the hospital, sven days a week…" Sakura lied on, trying to sound extremely casual,

"Liar. Just yesterday I asked Tsunade-sama why you hadn't come for work and she said she had given you off for about a week which means that your holiday is on till next week! Sakura…" Ino warned, the blonde clearly not understanding why her best-friend had just pointlessly lied to her.

Uh-oh.

Sakura was caught. It was definitely true that she had gotten an off for a week. She started panicking and her mind raced at full-speed to cook up a lie, but no avail. She had always been bad at lying and that proved to be very crucial for her now.

Her lips previously pursed in concentration, parted very slightly to give a well-thought out, or not, explanation but thankfully, Ino spared her and spoke in an all too normal tone, reflecting the situation, "Anyway, forehead, I need to go soon so I'll just wrap this conversation up," Sakura sighed out of relief, "Look, I've prepared a perfect honeymoon for you lucky birds- stop interrupting me Sakura and no, you cannot refuse- everything is booked and ready. I'll tell you the details tomorrow and sorry I've got to go now, so convince Sasuke, go shopping yourself and get ready to leave soon! Bye!"

Beep. Beep.

This was probably the third time Sakura had just sighed in this very hour. _Ino did not just do that_, she thought.

So here she was, newly wedded and turned Uchiha Sakura, married to her childhood sweetheart who left her and set off for revenge and power. Years later, he comes by, fits in once again in her heart and one fine day, out of pure drive to complete his ambition, he casually proposes to her to revive his clan. She just said yes. Period.

Her heart had given that verdict the very instant the word 'marry me' had slipped out through his deep, velvet voice. Maybe it was stupidity or just a flicker of hope that things may change someday. Now, the table remained unmoved and on both courts equally. Sakura asked for two months time, which he gave, and he has Sakura and the chance of her failure.

Sakura thought over the whole honeymoon idea once. Maybe…just maybe, Ino had finally come up with a good idea. This trip can be manipulated into her very own hands if she played her cards well enough. If they went to another location, it would just mean they would have to spend the whole day with each other; no work to interrupt them, friends to intervene, orders to take, cleaning and cooking to do. A whole week or so just to get to know each other, close up, understand one another, trust, and if she got lucky, he may start noticing her, appreciating her presence and-

-liking her, if even a bit. They would be at close proximity for the most part and for the first time, travel together and get recognized as a couple, not just comrades or friends as they primarily were. She smiled at her pleasant trail of thoughts. The click of the door vibrating through the silence is what woke her. She saw her beloved walk through it looking tired and worn out after a long day of training with Naruto.

She threw him an extra bright smile and walked right towards him and greeted him silently. His fatigued eyes just glanced at her shining green orbs and mouthed an 'Aa' in acknowledgement. He trudged heavily through the hallway to head upstairs and freshen up. Sakura knew what she had to do later this night. With a little skip at each step, she walked to the kitchen to lay the hand-cooked dinner on the table.

* * *

Sasuke and Sakura had just finished eating their dinner. The sky was a midnight blue with a few stars sparkling and a few hidden behind the cloud silhouettes. It had become pretty late and Sasuke was just relaxing on the couch, flipping through channels. It had been a very tiresome day for him what with the training and the lunch he just ate too often- ramen and certainly his noisy best friend with whom who had just spent the long day with.

On top of all that, he also sparred with the member for whom he sported almost no like at all. So called his "replacement", Sai never got on Sasuke's good side from the very first time that they had ever laid eyes on each other, till date.

So now he just calmly rested on the sofa, ate some light dinner cooked by his wife, Sakura, and had all the intention of heading back to the bedroom to get some goodnight sleep any moment now.

Sakura, on the other hand, spent a pretty peaceful day though she did get annoyed a bit by that fact. She usually started working and training right from morning and ends up returning only at night, but that was how it was before marriage. Nowadays, she balances the hours of the day so that she gets sometime at home too mainly for all the housework and Sasuke.

Since she was unwillingly given a holiday, she spent the whole day at home just lazing around and doing some daily chores.

Sakura put the last washed and dried plate on the kitchen shelf. She wiped her hands dry too and headed off towards the man on the couch. She had already planned on telling him about Ino's offer. She was pretty excited on telling him rather than being nervous. She saw this as a really good sign as she thought that it may mean that she's getting used to his company which is a big step for her.

At reaching her destination, she plopped herself casually on the couch beside the Sasuke who had finally decided on watching a particular channel. She just tapped her foot quietly and impatiently on the floor finding the right moment to tell him. She bit her lip in concentration and thought that there was really no need to wait since the opportunity was right there-

-there was silence, the man wasn't really watching the show in full observation and she herself had nothing better to do.

"Sasuke-kun? Can I talk you?" She questioned with a curious smile. The said raven-haired man turned his head to look at her and simply gave a short nod, being the man of little words. "Great," she continued, "You see, I was thinking we could go on a..honeymoon…well?" She questioned.

Sasuke grunted in a tone of disbelief and amusement with a smirk appearing on his face. Why would she want to go in a honeymoon? That's just troublesome, he thought. "No." He said frankly.

Sakura'a eyebrows crunched up a bit and she pouted, "But you didn't even think about it! It will be a damn break for both of us!" She said in desperation and then raised a voice a little, "Ino's already planned it for us and all and I think it is a very good idea, thank you very much. C'mon, please! Think about it at least." She said while crossing her arms.

"Why would you want to go on a honeymoon with me at all, I mean, after you put _your_ stupid condition?" He said knowingly. Sasuke definitely never agreed to her "two months apart" condition since he still did want his clan and did not want to take orders from Sakura or anyone. So now, he thought by saying such a thing, he could hope of somehow manipulating her so she could lift off the condition.

"That's beside the point," Sakura said coldly, "Look, I know exactly what you're trying to say, like, I do know what couples really do on honeymoons but so what if we're not like the others! We can just go for the fun and it will be a new experience! Our first time venture as a _married_ _couple_! I will not take no for an answer, Sasuke-kun!" She said in desperation, rising from her seat a little.

"Sakura," He said, raising his voice a little to make it sound more demanding, "You very well know that I care least about having some fun. Just take 'no' for an answer, ok?"

"Oh please!" She said, now getting annoyed. No matter how much time it takes in convincing his stubbornness to go along with her, she wasn't going to leave it be. "I haven't asked anything much of you and don't you mention the damn two months thing again! Look, I'm being nice to you, trying to be a good wife, and when I make special meals for you, I don't even force you to review it or throw tantrums! So why can't you just go a honeymoon with me! And, you know what? You must be the first man to refuse going on a honeymoon with his own young wife! You've really got issues!" She breathed out.

There was a moment of silence except for the light breathing of the two. They were just glancing at each other for a while and Sasuke was engaged in his own thinking session figuring out whether he should just go on the annoying honeymoon and get it over with or not and have Sakura screaming loudly all the time. Yeah, he had just forgotten how annoying Sakura could get…..

"Fine." He said, letting out a breath. "But, I'll remind you again that you must not expect anything from me as that will only let you down and-"

"-Thank you so much Sasuke-kun! You're the best!" Sakura exclaimed, interrupting his serious tone of voice. She was radiating off a very wide and bright smile and lunged at Sasuke out of pure job. For a moment, she held on to him, her hands wrapped around his neck while his hands were kept still on the smooth texture of the couch.

This time, it was his mind that was sort of stuck, since Sasuke Uchiha couldn't ever be jammed to a tight spot completely. He didn't know what to do about the fact that Sakura was just hugging him out of excitement similar to that of a child. But he did know what not to do; Not return it, which, for, him, was a given.

He simply put his large hands on her petite waist, Sakura jumped slightly due to his touch, and then with those very same hands he placed on her waist, he used them to remove her form from his muscular one. Sakura just looked at him for a moment, a little confused as everything happened very quickly and automatically.

She had just instinctively hugged him and he kept his hands on her waist, which she thought was a sign, but when he pulled away she had returned to earth and realized that he was just trying to remove her from him. But all this, did not for the slightest falter her ever-cheery smile.

"Sorry, my mistake! It just…came…" Sakura said sheepishly rubbing her hand on her forearm in a vertical movement.

"Hn. Just…don't do that again. It was precisely what I was warning you about it, Sakura." He said in a lighter voice, contrary to his earlier serious and demanding tone.

"Yeah…anyway, so it's a yes then?"

"Hn."

"Thank you!" She replied and it was soon followed by a big yawn indicating that she was pretty sleepy even if she worked a little lesser than usual today. "I think I'll go to bed now, ok? You coming?"

"Hn, I'll go after a few minutes."

"Right. OK, goodnight Sasuke-kun…" She said in soft and fatigued tone and stood up and walked upstairs and disappeared behind the bedroom door.

Sasuke just saw her form pace off to the room. He was pretty tired too and decided to go to bed just in a few minutes though it didn't seem tempting at all to him. True that he had only shifted into this house about a few years ago, but he had really gotten used to the bed that Sakura was currently snuggled in and wished that he had sent her to the duller guest room. Thinking about the thought that he was just getting almost jealous that Sakura was sleeping in the master bed instead of him, was very amusing to him and got out a smirk out of him.

He lazily got up from the couch, stretched, and headed off to his new bedroom.

* * *

The Uchiha home was still unmoving. The sky outside was painted a nice shade of orange and pink and the sun was taking its own time in rising. Sasuke was still in a deep slumber, his rhythmic deep breathing travelling through the quiet room. He was comfortably wrapped in the blanket. Upon hearing the sudden doorbell ringing through the whole silent house, shaking it, Sasuke stirred not even a little, perhaps because he was in a too deep sleep.

The doorbell rang two more times and the visitor outside started banging the door frantically. This time, rudely disturbed and awoken, Sasuke not only stirred but also tried to cover his ears with his pillows out of irritation. Seeing that the ringing and banging continued, he knew he couldn't' ignore it so out of pure annoyance and anger he jerked up from his bed angrily as he never liked being disturbed while asleep.

He stomped through the house and reached the front door forcing it open harshly. He gave the visitor, who surprisingly turned out to be Ino, a deathly glare and he spat out icily, "What the heck do you think you're doing this early in the morning? Sakura's probably asleep, come back later!" Finishing on an edgy tone, he reached out his hand for the cold doorknob but was stopped by the blonde coming in the way, and walking uninvited into the house.

"Geez Sasuke, relax! You don't have to wake Sakura up…I could tell you instead." Ino said shrugging her shoulders innocently and casually taking a seat on the couch. Sasuke closed the door and sat down on the side couch, gritting his teeth, still annoyed at the blonde for interrupting his sleep.

"Hurry up. Say what you need to." He said coldly through his gritted teeth.

"I'm not gonna stay for long. I just wanted to tell you that I had to book your honeymoon for today itself. The resort just outside Konoha is booked for everyday except today. Ok?" Ino instructed. Sasuke just quirked his brow as an order for her to continue and give him the other stupid details for the honeymoon.

"Thank god Sakura did remembered to tell you…anyway, The resort is just a little outside Konoha and takes half a day to reach by foot. Your reservation is six so you'll have to leave as soon as possible. I've booked it for a week, that's the best I could do. Hope that's enough for you animals…" Sasuke just remained impassive at that last comment and replied,

"Hn, whatever. If you have nothing else to say…" He trailed off.

"Fine, fine. I'll have to leave now anyway. Talk about treating your guests nicely…yeah and don't forget to tell forehead. Oh, and I almost forgot…" She took out a small piece of paper to a curious Sasuke. He took it and scanned it quickly and waited for Ino's instructions, "The address of the resort is written here." Ino said while propping herself off of the couch. She led herself to the door and bid him a 'goodbye' and 'have fun' and left.

The house was once again quiet. He checked the clock and decided that if took about half a day to reach and that if the reservation was at 6:00pm, they better leave as soon as possible. Keeping that in mind, he headed off towards the master bedroom to give Sakura the wake up call and news about leaving today for their honeymoon on which she wanted to go so much for.

On reaching the master bedroom, Sasuke noticed the little lump lying comfortably on the bed and he knew it to be Sakura. Only her face and part of her hands were revealed from underneath the blanket.

Her silky pink tresses were sprawled messily on the fluffy pillow.

The curtains of the room were pulled back, letting in the warm silver rays of the sun. It enlightened the entire room. Sasuke observed that her eyes were still lidded and her breathing was even and peaceful. He closed the door behind him noiselessly, not wanting to wake her up by that noise. He strolled gingerly towards the bed. He got a clear view of her bright and peaceful face from where he was standing. He had to wake her up and break the news her friend had delivered to him, but for some reason, he didn't want to rid her of her sleep yet.

He wanted her to keep dreaming her sweet dreams and wanted her calm breathing to continue. All this without any reason whatsoever. So he just stood there, watching her breathe with her eyes shut, her face shining due to the sunlight, yet her features showed no irritation. But then, he just shook off whatever the heck he was feeling…as a matter of fact, he knew what had just happened; He actually for the first time looked at her closely to see just how pretty she was. But he just overlooked that fact. Again. Right now, just when he had noticed it…

He kept his gaze averted at the girl for a little longer and then saw her stir in her sleep a little. He took this as the perfect opportunity to wake her up. He inched closer to the bed and positioned his head a little away from hers and called out, "Sakura." Having got just silence as a response, he called her name out again, "Sakura, wake up. It's already morning."

She still didn't wake up. He then reached out his hand and placed it on her body and shook it while calling out her name again. She still wouldn't wake, so he just sat down beside her on the bed, his hand still on her body, occasionally shaking her. After a while, the pinkette's lidded eyes fluttered half-way open to reveal dazzling emerald orbs.

She blinked her eyes to clear the hazy vision and to get used to the sudden bright atmosphere. She felt a light weight placed just above her waist and instinctively, snapped her eyes open and got up fully aware. Sasuke was pretty surprised by her sudden movement and wondered what happened, perhaps a nightmare.

In a split second after jerking up from her sleep, Sakura swiftly turned her head to Sasuke, with a punch ready to land on his chest. All this, due to her ninja instincts and lessons of being alert and cautious always. But Sasuke caught her fist right in time and that's when Sakura realized that it was only Sasuke and not an intruder who was innocently sitting beside her.

"Sasuke-kun? What are you doing here so early?" Said a surprised Sakura, as soon as she laid her eyes on Sasuke, the supposed intruder. Sasuke let go of her fist, understanding that Sakura had thought of him as an enemy.

"I was trying to wake you up. Yamanka, your friend, came by early in the morning today. Told me the details of the honeymoon. We are to reach the resort by six in the evening. Here are the rest of the details." Sasuke said this and reached out inside his pocket to pick out the note Ino had given him.

Sakura took it from him curiously and read it. Sasuke went on, "We have to leave in two three hours or something according to her."

"What?! But that's just im-" Sakura started.

"-Impossible, I know. But she says that it was the only slot the resort had left." He explained. Sakura just sighed. "Well, Sakura, you're the one who wanted to go that badly…"

"You're right. I think it's just great! Sooner we leave the better. Let's start getting ready then, shall we?" She asked with a smile. She changed her mind so quickly because she knew that Sasuke was basically trying to manipulate her into saying that they didn't have to go. Sakura knew better and so she just couldn't give in.

She enthusiastically got up from her bed, stretched slightly, smiled back at an annoyed Sasuke and left him alone in the room and disappeared into the bathroom.

Sasuke just balled his fist lightly, knowing that he couldn't get Sakura into refusing to go. He inwardly sighed, accepting the fact that there was no backing out of this. It couldn't be that bad after all, could it?

* * *

**There, a slightly long chapter as an apology for updating this late! Hope it's good enough…there might be a few grammatical errors here and there as I haven't proof read this one yet…**

**So, they're going on a honeymoon and I have no idea what's going to happen! I have absolutely nothing of that planned, just came automatically. xD**


	8. And then what happened?

**Thank you for all the reviews, so here is a new chapter! Oh, and a special thanks to nicthepunk. Thank you so SO MUCH for helping me through this and sorry for not being able to reply to your last message! You are just…awesome! Thank you!!! :D**

**Disclaimer: *Sigh* I don't own Naruto…**

* * *

It was a cool day and the Uchihas were making their way through the dark forest. They were halfway to their honeymoon destination which was right at the border of the fire country, just next to a landmark the both knew all too well- the great Naruto Bridge, in the Wave Country, which was named after their loud friend. They walked through the cool dark forest quietly, side by side, their feet making scratching noises against the rough ground. They had been travelling for long and the sky had grown dark too. Hardly any words were exchanged amongst them which was characteristic, at least for the male Uchiha.

"Hey, let's rest for a while Sasuke-kun…we've been walking for hours now!" Sakura whined. It was true that they had been walking at a stretch of six hours with no breaks whatsoever, with each of them dragging along their heavy luggage. It was not a very comfortable journey obviously as the destination was quite far away from their home and they had been put at quite a fix a while back as to which turning they had to pursue.

"We've almost reached so stop whining. You're the one who proposed this annoying idea anyway so stop talking and keep moving." He said flatly, not once making eye contact with his wife. In reality, since the dark shadows had completely engulfed the forest in their darkness, nothing was really visible which made their journey furthermore harder.

"I know, but it's really dark and it's very hard to keep up with you! In fact, I can barely make out where we are exactly going- and are you sure we're on the right path- ouch! I think I just almost tripped over a stone- see what I mean!" She protested while bending for a short while to massage her aching toe. She received no reply from Sasuke though, which she thought was indeed very rude. She pointedly stood up to yell something at him but held back at the sight of distant yet near light.

She knew they were near the spot for which they were trudging with heavy luggage endlessly for. An indication to this was the soft and soothing noise of the ocean which was one of the facilities promised at the resort, a nice and warm beach. She became very excited, like a child getting their craved for chocolate.

After a matter of mere seconds, they made their way to the source of the light and humming of the waters. There it lay, still under the moonlight, a well-lit grand resort. From the outside it looked exquisite; a polished wooden bridge, in-between two separated cliffs, led its way to the entrance of the Inn. Around the entrance was a highly decorated garden with a fountain, with water jetting out of saucer-like layers. The structure of the building resembled a traditional Japanese mansion with red roof like structures and white walls. Everything looked aristocratic.

"This is it." Sasuke stated looking from the building to Sakura. "Let's go." Sakura threw him an eager glance and made her way through the bridge quickly, admiring the scenery all the while. It was a beautiful star-studded night and that was what added to the beauty of the landscape. Behind it hid the dark waters of the ocean, splashing its waves about.

Just as Sasuke and Sakura walked through the entrance of the resort, they were greeted by the manager of the hotel who led them right to the reception. "Welcome, welcome! Do you have a reservation?"

Sasuke gave him an indifferent glance and then nodded while Sakura replied a positive "Yes, we do. Our friend Ino Yamanka booked us a room. May we know the details of the room she booked for us?" She requested in a sugar-coated tone.

"Yes, I remember," Replied the manager joyfully. He immediately looked down at the register and started running his index finger down the smooth texture of the paper. He ran his finger on top of a particular reservation and looked up, "Sasuke and Sakura Uchiha- is that right?" The couple nodded in unison. "Yes, Ms. Yamanka has booked you two a honeymoon suite. You've got room number 109 which is on the third and last floor. Dinner shall be ready by 8:00pm which gives you time to freshen-up and relax. We also have a sea beach and joint hot springs here for the honeymoon suite specifically. Enjoy your honeymoon and congratulations on your wedding!" He cheered, handing over the room's card key to Sasuke. Sakura thanked him courteously and Sasuke just nodded distractedly.

Immediately, two bell-boys came round and picked up their luggage and headed for the stairs probably to land their luggage upstairs in the room safely. Meanwhile, Sakura observed the interior of the building. It was just as beautiful as the outside. It was also spacious, not too filled up with furniture. It had decorated pillars with golden and white painted walls and the floor was a smooth, marble one, matching the walls being gold, white and black. Plants were dotted here and there around the far spread hall and reception. Two flights of semi-winding stairs led to the three floors. A red carpet was spread on them giving them the royal look. The resort, from what they had seen till now was excellent. It was simple, yet so sophisticated and complete.

Sakura was in awe. She just loved the resort already even though she had just arrived. "Sakura, hurry up." These words brought her back from her reverie and she quickly looked at the man who had called her name. She ran towards the stairs Sasuke was currently standing on. "Sorry, I was just a bit caught up Sasuke-kun, that's all," She explained. They climbed up the three floors of the stairs. At the end of the steps, they turned right following the bell-boy who was waiting there to guide them to their room. They turned right and walked to the end of the corridor.

Sasuke slipped the card through the appropriate slot and pushed open the door to room 109. The bellhop put their luggage down, was tipped by Sasuke, bowed down politely, closed the door and left the couple to themselves.

The suite was neither too big nor small with the theme of plants dotting the room continuing. A fire place sat at the centre of the room in front of a warm couch and coffee table. The whole floor expanse was carpeted and the wall was wallpapered. A huge comfortable four-poster bed was positioned somewhere nearby the window on the left. In front of it lay a big television. A dressing table, a few highly polished cupboards and a full-length mirror were lined at the other side of the room. There were two relaxing reclining chairs also situated in the room. A fairly large attached bathroom was also present with smooth marble floors, tiled walls and had quite a large bathtub as well as a shower stall.

Everything was decorated and themed perfectly. It was, in Sakura's opinion extremely homely and beautiful.

"It's lovely, ne Sasuke-kun? I already love it!" Sakura said excitedly glancing at an impassive as usual Sasuke. "It's fine," he replied monotonously while picking up his luggage and placing it in one corner of the room. "Do you get the bed or me?" He asked a surprised Sakura. She was puzzled as to what in the world he meant by that.

"What do you mean?" She questioned while throwing him a baffled glance.

"Exactly what I said. Do you want to sleep on the bed or the couch, Sakura?"

"………….."

He sighed at her cluelessness. "Remember your damn terms…"

"…Well, sleeping separately wasn't part of it but ok, since you insist on being away from me…"

"Get to the point. You or me?" He stated. Sakura had never personally told him to sleep on a separate bed even at home. It was him who had suggested it. No, actually he was the one who just directly went for it. She knew she could easily just probably tell him to sleep on the uncomfortable couch but decided that it wouldn't be fair on him since she had already shattered his goal of reviving his clan by delaying the 'task' by two months.

Thinking along the lines of fair play, she came to a decision. "I've got an idea. We can play rock, paper, scissors to decide who gets the bed." She said. She perfectly knew it was a rather immature way of deciding who gets the greater comfort but she thought that this whole war of 'who gets to sleep where' argument was childish too anyway. Plus, that game by all means was after all- fair.

"Sakura…"

"No buts. Think you're not up to it? " She smirked. "C'mon it won't hurt unless you're afraid of…losing…"

Sasuke knew what she was getting at. Smart indeed. "Fine, bring it on. Best of one."

"Ok then! Get ready…rock, paper, scissors, shoot!" She said. As soon as she uttered the last word, the pair revealed their hands. One spread out all their fingers indicating 'paper' and the other, hand fisted up into a ball representing 'rock'.

"I won. Yes, I won! So that means I get the bed!" Sakura said excitedly. Sasuke just cursed under his breath. He was never fortunate with his luck or accepting defeat for that matter, but there was nothing he could do. "Yeah, whatever." He said coldly, annoyance spread over all his features clearly.

He almost hated his life right now. He had just got married to a girl ,who used to be a weakling, suddenly got this boost of super human strength and now she even refused to have his babies. They were on there honeymoon which didn't even feel like a real one as he felt as if he couldn't even touch her. They were going to even sleep separately. It's not that he had any attraction towards the woman he has to address as his wife but he did have very good reasons right now to get annoyed by every word she utters. The worst part of it all was that they had just been married for only over a week and life was already so depressing unlike the peaceful life he had imagined.

* * *

It had been a few hours since the newly-wedded couple had arrived in the resort. They had already freshened up regaining all the energy lost during the long trip which ate away almost the whole day. Sasuke was generally just reading something while lying on the couch whereas Sakura was lying on the bed watching some light-hearted television program. The peace was broken by the knock of the door. "Come in," the said girl replied.

"Mr. and Mrs. Uchiha, I have come to ask you whether you would prefer to dine in your room or downstairs with the rest of the guests." Was the manager's request who had just entered through the room.

Sakura gave him a polite smile and questioned Sasuke, "What do you say, why don't we eat with the other people?" He barely responded to her. He just gave a disinterested approval of "Hn."

"Fine then. Mr. Manager, I think we would like to come down to the hall then."

"Yes Madam. Dinner has already been served and the hall is on the first floor to the left. Thank you." With that said, the man left the room.

"Ok Sasuke-kun, let's go." She said while getting up and switching off the TV. She headed towards the door where Sasuke joined her. The pair walked down the stairs in silence once again, following the path which would lead them to the dining hall. On reaching the first floor, they took a left turn as instructed and were greeted by a long table topped with a whole platter of delicious delicacies and around ten smiling guests.

Sakura suddenly became a little self- conscious on having encountered so many people who were currently staring at both of them. She smiled at them warmly nonetheless unlike Sasuke who was just motioning Sakura disinterestedly to hurry up and sit down. She followed him and seated herself beside Sasuke right in the middle of the table.

A fairly young looking woman wished them, "Oh hello! So, when did you arrive here? I'm Mrs. Yagami and this is my husband," She said while gently pointing at the man sitting beside her, "And what about you both?"

Sakura felt a lot more comfortable on being welcomed so kindly. She spared the raven-haired man beside her a glance and then replied, "We arrived just yesterday. You see we're on our honeymoon. I'm Sakura and this is Sasuke Uchiha. Nice to meet you!" She said with a cheery smile. Everyone, including Sasuke, had already begun eating so she did the same. She picked up her chopsticks and digged in to the various delicious looking meals.

After only a few minutes, a young teenage girl with jet black hair looked at Sakura and Sasuke who were waiting for the next course to arrive, "Hi, I'm Natsuki and this is my boyfriend. You've been newly married so… you must be having a love story? What is it?" She asked not-so innocently.

At this, Sasuke looked up at her and Sakura almost choked. She didn't no what to reply so she just made up her mind on just stating the truth, "Actually, we don't really-"

"C'mon, I know you do! I mean, you're Sasuke Uchiha and I know you are the guy every girl fawns over so there must be a reason why you chose her over the others…"

"No, there isn't and it's none-" Sasuke started but was cut in by Sakura who had just painfully stepped on his foot as if daring him to say that. She quickly whispered to him softly saying "Would you stop being so rude with everyone?" Sasuke just glared back at her but all he got to threaten was the side profile of her smooth face. He knew what Sakura was up to. First, she would try to convince everybody that there was no 'love story' but would fail and end up saying a mixture of the truth and lies.

"It's the truth really! We don't have a-" Sakura started but was shortly interrupted by the different voices coming from the eager and insisting crowds.

"It won't hurt to tell-"

"It's just a story-"

"Open up a bit-"

"Ok, ok!" Sakura said, a bit fed-up with the convincing people. She could try and make up a story…it really wouldn't hurt as long as she doesn't go overboard with it…"It all started when Sasuke, Naruto our friend and I were put on the same Genin Team. We were called Team 7. We both never got along with Naruto and kept fighting with him but both of us, we were just per-"

"We were not perfect together either." Sasuke cut in quickly. He was fine with Sakura making up a story but he was not fine with being portrayed as a lovesick puppy. Heck, he wasn't ok with Sakura saying a sentence with 'him', 'Sakura' and 'love' being in the same sentence! The best solution he could think of on the spot was to twist 'their' story into an uneventful, truthful story making him seem like the distant man he was.

His interruption earned him a startled glare from Sakura. But he didn't care. He just continued, "We never got along or even talked to each other and basically had no unity-"

"But this changed later on." Sakura cut in this time. Two could play this game. She knew exactly what Sasuke was trying to do and she accepted it. Secretly, she thought that this night and end result of the story could end up being lots of fun and something they both would laugh at together years later. "I failed as a kunouichi then but Sasuke here- best in the class. As we got more missions, he almost took it upon himself to protect, encourage and care for-"

"-Naruto. He really needed the extra help." Sasuke countered her with a smirk. "We both would constantly have a row and Sakura would always get in the way and cry." This statement really hit Sakura. She thought that that was just pushing the limit. She hated to admit it but that just shook her painfully.

She knew she couldn't play nice anymore and decided to treat this as a full-on verbal battle. "That is just the beginning. At that time, _my Sasuke_ here was a blood thirsty avenger as you all know." She said cunningly knowing fully that this was Sasuke's weakness- issues concerning his brother and clan. "Orochimaru gave him a cursed seal with which he wilted in pain and I had to protect him bravely- twice that too."

Sasuke gritted his teeth. He was definitely not ok with looking like a weakling. "True it may be that she saved me from the wretched cursed seal but after that, she was the one who was crying and being saved by me all the while."

Sakura nodded in concentration thinking of a way to tackle him. She couldn't think of anything much as everything she could say next would backfire at her so she decided to go with the touching truth, "And then one night he was leaving for the sound. It was a full-moon night and I was the one to come in his way. I tried to convince him-"

"-But she failed miserably. I easily knocked her out and left her in the dark night; Unconscious. After that, I headed off to pursue my goal." He said and then smirked at his wife, as if posing her a challenge.

"That is not exactly what happened, Sasuke-kun…earlier; I admit that I was a useless fan girl of his but that soon evolved into love. I confessed my hopeless love for him, begging him to take me with him, but-"

"-She was not able to convince me-"

"-Though he did stay and listen to me patiently all the while. When I threatened him that I would scream and awaken all the villagers, he bid me words of 'thank you' , knocked me out softly, and lay me on the bench and then…then…"

"…I left her and the village and returned a few years later."

There was a moment of silence. The whole room was listening to the pair intently. Sakura was just looking down into her dessert, playing with her ice-cream with a spoon. Sasuke was still unaffected as is nothing had ever happened. It was Natsuki's boyfriend who had broken the tense silence, "And then what happened?"

Sakura turned her head slowly to look up at Sasuke. She turned back to look at the crowd and responded, "Nothing. He came back to Konoha, caused some havoc in the village, everything turned back to normal including him, we became friends, he proposed to me and here we are- married. The end," Sakura said with a bitter smile. Sasuke also nodded in agreement. He thought that it was a reasonable and most of all, a truthful ending.

"Whoa, that was some story!" Natsuki said in awe. "See? So I was right, you both did have a love story. It's pretty late so you can tell me your whole story in detail some other day. It was nice talking to ya!" She said.

Slowly, one by one the hall started to empty. Sasuke and Sakura were the last to leave. They were now in their room again resting on their bed and couch.

"Umm..Sasuke-kun?"

"Hn?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"………"

"It's about today…the way you described us, do you really think we were never even friends and that I was just a nuisance all the time?"

"I didn't say that," He said truthfully.

"I know, but for some reason I got that impression from your words 'cause all you ever added in was something along the lines of 'she cried', 'she wasn't able to' and all…I know I'm being annoying right now but… did you ever even care about me?" She asked with a sad smile. She was afraid of what he may answer. She knows that she was very immature when they started out as genins but she personally thought that she had improved as a teammate, as a friend, as a person as time passed. But she didn't know what he thought of her.

Never.

"You were fine and I will not lie, you did get in the way sometimes." He said bluntly. This once again startled Sakura, inviting sorrow into her system.

"..Right. I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough and…"

"Forget it. It's done and we all are still alive so there's nothing I'm blaming you for."

"You're right. It's been a long day...I'm just a little tired, that's all. I'm going to sleep…Goodnight Sasuke-kun." She said while wrapping herself up comfortably in the warmth of the blankets. Sasuke didn't respond and simply turned off the lights and tried to curl up contentedly into the squishy couch. The room was dark and he had already shut his eyes, ready to fall asleep.

Sakura however, could not do so for a reason she couldn't quite understand herself. Sakura didn't know why she was feeling so depressed and down. It occurred to her that she may be over-reacting to his words spoken at the dining table. She was clueless as to what had triggered this sorrow and thought that it must probably be the fact that after all these years, she was still trapped in a world where she still possessed unrequited love for a certain Sasuke Uchiha who has never even seen her more than just a friend. But they were married, weren't they?

This very thought haunted her every night; where exactly were they? Can their relationship even be tagged as one which a husband and wife share? She always feels whether she should have just rejected him instead of betraying him and not letting him complete his true goal which she had promised to help him complete…in fact, she remembered the time when she had promised Sasuke that she would do anything he asked her to do. Yet, here she was now, not letting him complete his life-long goal.

But she knew that after coming this far, she couldn't just turn back. After all, she had given up so much for him, starting from Ino and their friendship to her feelings. She was unsuccessful at getting rid of her romantic feelings towards Sasuke. She knew that if she would have turned his offer down, she would be regretting it the most for the rest of her life. Naruto would notice and give everything he could to help her. When Sasuke wasn't around, Naruto was the one who knew and understood what Sasuke truly meant to her.

This is what kept her spirit up- the fact that she had put this condition of being apart for two months was according to her, one of the best decisions she had ever made. This way, she would never blame him for not giving her a chance. This way, she would come before his goal of reviving his clan which was exactly what she needed him to do- to notice and acknowledge her presence. Also, there was no looking back now. They say- "A ninja never goes back on their words," She would follow this and try and create a steady, meaningful relationship between Sasuke and her. Not one which felt like hell and punishment everyday but a happy, joyful one.

This was what she felt. Now that it was all sorted out, she knew that she shouldn't take all his words to heart. She had to understand what kind of a man he is too and not just the other way around- frank, distant, quiet and even cold but at the same time even caring no matter how much he denies it. She was also going to give him a chance and tomorrow, she will make sure she doesn't let him suffer on the couch…

Those were her last thoughts before she also went into a blissful sleep with pleasant dreams she hoped in making into reality one day.

* * *

**Hmm…I'm not that satisfied with the chapter…I feel that there were a LOT of unnecessary parts.**

**Anyway, review and tell me what you think!**


End file.
